


Game Over! Restart?

by orphan_account



Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Different Survivors, Different murders, F/F, Trans Fujisaki Chihiro, every character is redesigned, fuck kodaka my man!!!, its amazing, this is a rewrite, this is heavily inspired by "Danganronpa V3: New chord" PLEASE go check it out, we dont talk about chapter 9
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-09-17 04:39:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 60,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16967853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: And then we knew, what we were brought here to feel. What we were brought here to be a part of. We were meant to experience true, total, complete, ultimate, Despair.---





	1. Prologue: Into the Belly of the Beast

**Author's Note:**

> ill be posting when these are done, so expect erratic updates! also hoh boy this is self-indulgent

The massive beacon of hope stands high among the city, the drab, almost solid grey world around it seems to revolve around the massive building. A government-funded school of privilege. They say that if you come here and manage to graduate, you'll be set for life.

With hundreds of years of tradition in its pocket, it makes the world’s bright and beautiful next generation glimmer like stars. It was built to raise hope in the nation's future. Which makes Hope's Peak a pretty fitting name. In order to be granted entry to the school, you need to be already attending high school, and you must be the very best in whatever you choose to do. At the gates of this Ultimate high school, bustling to the brim with Ultimate students, was one, single, normal, absolutely average and regular in every way, boy. Makoto Naegi stands at the locked gates of Hope’s Peak Academy, his body refusing to let him move.

When it comes to being “Ultimate” he wasn’t much to sneeze at. His grades were average, his stature was normal, his brain was mediocre. Makoto Naegi, practically usual in every way. Him staring in front of Hope’s Peak was like a cracker sitting next to a gourmet steak. Ordinary next to anything but. Hope's Peak only invites those students who are truly elite in their field. It's such a popular topic, there are threads online dedicated to talking about the school's attendees.

From “The Ultimate Pop Idol”, the lead singer of this generation’s best pop group, to “The Ultimate Fashionista”, her face plastered on every fashion magazine in sight. So, how did someone so painfully normal make it into a school for Ultimates? The world needs someone to make everyone else look better, and one student out of millions is selected out of a raffle. Deemed “The Ultimate Lucky Student”, this high school is forced into a school for the best. He got invited by pure luck. Honestly, Makoto probably would have been better off just declining their offer. Average students aren’t made for Ultimate places.

But after hearing how graduating was a "guarantee for success" later in life, no one could just say no. People aren’t designed to say no to something handed to them on a silver platter. But right now, staring at the imposing, infallible form of the High School, Makoto felt small. He felt lost. But before he even knew it, his legs moved against his own will.

The entrance to the school grew closer. And closer. And then, the dull thunk of converse on concrete turned to the pleasant squeak of rubber on linoleum. He was in a beautifully lit and decorated entrance hall, with black floors and white walls with marble arches and pillars. It was perfect, amazing, it was Ultimate. Then, all at once, the world shifted. His head ached and spun. The walls shook, the floor crumbled, and then, it was black. Pitch black surrounded him, there was nothing. Only cold. He felt tired.

“Quick! Get the windows!”

“We have to hurry!”

“What are you sitting around for?! Get off your ass and help!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

“The doors! Block the doors!”

Then Makoto woke up. His face felt heavy. His body ached with exhaustion. When his eyes finally opened, all he saw was a classroom.

The walls were painted a gaudy yellow with orange spots, clashing with the dull green chalkboard. On top of all of this, massive, thick, metallic sheets bolted the windows shut. As unsettling, as that was, Makoto decided he should probably figure out how he passed out and ended up in an otherwise empty classroom. He stumbled out of the seat, shuffling through the rows of desks laid out before him. He walked to the door and with a quick push, it swung open.

He was greeted with a hallway painted a garish color of blue, and 15 more classrooms were spread among the hallway. Most of these doors had already been swung open but remained shut. Two doors down, a door shakes as someone attempts to force it open. He takes a few steps to the door, and pulls the door open, just as a girl falls out. Assuming she was located in a classroom, she must be an ultimate, but her appearance didn’t say much. She wore a pastel pink blouse with light blue trim, with a blue ribbon tied around her collar. Along with a knee length skirt with a chessboard pattern, and pink rose petal leggings. Her dark blue, back length hair was held up with various music note shaped hair pins and ties.

Makoto responded like any other person seeing somebody fall out of a door would. “OH MY GOD ARE YOU OKAY”

“Huh?” The girl pushed herself up, rising to her feet. “Oh! I’m fine. Just a little bruise, I’ll be fine.”

“Alright,” Makoto tried an uneasy smile. “I’m Makoto Naegi. Do..you know where we are?”

“No. I don’t.” The girl shook her head. “Anyhow, I’m Sayaka Maizono.”

Where had he heard that name before?

“Wondering where you’ve heard my name?”

“Huh?! I mean, yeah but how did you know that?” Makoto exclaimed.

“Easy! I’m psychic.”

“Haha, just kidding. I’m only good at reading people.” Sayaka giggled behind her hand. “Anyway, I’m the Ultimate Pop Idol.”

Makoto took a sharp breath.

“Surprised?” She smiled. “It’s how most people respond. It’s either shock or instant recognition.” She rubbed the beautifully painted nails of her thumb and forefinger together. “So how about you? What’s so special about Makoto Naegi?”

And there it was. How would she react? Hatred? Dismissal? “I...don't have a talent. I got into the school by pure luck.”

“Ah. Well, it’s behind us now.” and with that, Sayaka turned on her heel and started walking off. “Come on, we should find the other students and try to figure out what’s going on with this place.”

“Good idea,” Makoto stated simply, and followed behind the blue haired girl.

The hallways of the school were all neon colored, massive LED lights glared down on the pair from a checkerboard ceiling, The azure hue of the hallway faded into neon yellow, straining Makoto’s vision. The Yellow hallway opened into a large, plaza esque area, reminiscent of the main hall.

In the middle of the hall stood a large statue of a bear. The massive creature was poised to strike. Water crashing under its massive paws, and the still alive fish in its maw painted a horrifying picture of unmatched strength. And standing in the shadow of raw power, stood a girl.

She wore a heavy black trenchcoat with an orange tie and black trousers. Her white hair in complete contrast to everything else about her. She moved about the statue in a quick and succinct matter, examining everything she could find in a manner one could describe as practiced. Makoto snapped back to reality when he realized Sayaka wasn’t standing next to him and was going to talk to her. Makoto very hurriedly followed suit.

“Hello!” Sayaka called. In response to her voice, the girl snapped her head to the right to face the pair. Her eyes were a pastel purple, which caused Makoto to stop in his tracks.

“Hello.” She said, then immediately went back to her examination.

“What are you looking at?” Sayaka tried. The girl only offered a hum in return.

“What’s your name?”

“Kyoko Kirigiri.” she didn’t say it like a friendly introduction. Instead, her words came out as a small, sharp fact.

“Well, Kyoko-"  
  
"Just Kirigiri."  
  
Sayaka sputtered. "Well, I’m very happy to meet you, Kirigiri!” Sayaka smiled. “I’m Sayaka Maizono!”  
  
“The Ultimate Pop Idol.”

“The one and only! Have you heard of me?” Sayaka struck a little pose.

“Of course.” Kirigiri hummed, then returned to her work. She lifted a dark gloved hand to a golden plaque on the statue.

“What are you reading?” Makoto spoke up. Both Kirigiri and Sayaka’s eyes turned to him, and he immediately felt small.

Kirigiri stopped. “Aut viam inveniam aut faciam.” The words sounded like something Makoto couldn’t even imagine comprehending. If anything, an old proverb.

“Is that Latin?” Sayaka said, but it fell on deaf ears.

“I shall either find a way or make one.” Kirigiri stared directly at Makoto. She jabbed a finger at the inscription on the base of the statue, which held the same words she had spoken.

“S-so,” he started. “W-what’s your, talent, Kirigiri?”

She didn’t say anything. “I’m just like this place.” Sayaka and Makoto gave each other a side eye. “I’m a mystery.”

Sayaka made a “crazy” motion to Makoto.

“This place is full of mysteries. I am simply one of them. Let’s see if you can solve my mystery, Mr. Naegi.”

Did he give her his name? And with that, she simply went back to the statue. Sayaka tugged on his arm and headed off, going around the statue and down another hallway, located opposite to the one that led them here. “Aut viam inveniam aut faciam,” Kirigiri whispered behind Makoto as he walked away.

This new hallway was invasively red. The lights blared into Makoto’s vision and made sure he knows that this hallway was all RED RED RED. Shouts shook him out of his trance. There, at the end of the hallway, were the sources of the voices. One feminine, one masculine, a girl and a boy stood shouting at each other about something indistinguishable. As Makoto and Sayaka grew closer, their forms grew more distinguishable. One boasted Pigtails and towered over a spiky-haired boy.

“H-hello?” Sayaka called to them, and suddenly two sets of eyes were on them. One grey, one red.

The girl with pigtails began waltzing towards them, having seemingly not a care in the world. “YO!” she yelled, making Makoto wince.

“Hi.” Makoto tried. “I’m Makoto Naegi.”

“Junko Enoshima.”

“WAIT REALLY?” Sayaka’s voice shouted. “THE Junko Enoshima?!”

“Yup! The Ultimate Fashionista herself!” Junko flashed a victory hand-sign and gave an almost unnaturally wide grin. For the “Ultimate Fashionista”, you’d expect her to wear more modern clothing, but Junko’s style clearly preferred cute over cool. She wore a simple white blouse (with the first three buttons nowhere to be seen), with a pastel pink bowtie around her neck. In addition, she wore was a pink miniskirt and white leggings with a moving heart pattern. And the clicking sound that accompanied her every movement could easily be explained by her knee-high pink and red high heeled boots Dark freckles littered her face. “I Gotta ask, do you have any fuckin idea what’s going on here?”

Sayaka shook her head.

“Damn.” Junko then shot Sayaka and Makoto a look. “The Pop star and…” Her face scrunched in confusion. “Who the hell are you.”

“I-”

“He’s Makoto Naegi!”

Junko gave a blank look. “That doesn’t answer my question but ok.”  
  
"Hmmm..." Sayaka pondered. "You look sort of different than you're photo shoots..."

"Huh? Y-yeah, those magazines are edited to hell and back, with like, computers and junk?"

"Really?"

“MISS ENOSHIMA” Yelled another voice.

“Dear God.” Junko spat.

“Miss Enoshima! Such language and attire is not befitting of a student at Hope’s Peak-”

“BLAH BLAH BLAH Do you ever listen to how you talk? It’s REAL annoying.”

As the two’s voices overlapped again, Makoto examined the boy. He had a short choppy crew cut, along with a white, formal school uniform with golden buttons in places where buttons are not necessary. A red armband was located on his left sleeve, and along with his black pants tucked into black boots, he definitely held an intimidating aura, one that was easily diminished by his short stature. Even without Junko’s boots, she would probably tower over him. The pair’s shouting died down, and before he knew it, the boy was looking at him.  
“YOU THERE! Your attire is not befitting of someone attending Hope’s Peak! Is there not a dress code her-”

“Hello!” Sayaka broke his rant, and he turned to address her.

“Finally! Someone who knows how to dress! Hello Miss! My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru! I am the Ultimate Moral Compass!” He gave a wide smile that made Junko roll her eyes.

“Well, Taka, my name is Sayaka Maizono!” She smiled. “Can I call you Taka?”

“Of course!” Taka grinned. “Now, tell me, did you all awake inside of empty classrooms as well?”

“Yup,” Makoto responded.

“Yeah! Weird right?” Sayaka said.

“Curiouser and Curiouser.” Taka narrowed his eyes, then promptly turned back and walked in a perfectly straight line to Junko. “I will be escorting Miss Enoshima to the nearest member of staff. Goodbye!” with that, he promptly marched off with Junko in tow.

  
Sayaka was off pretty soon after, her movements small and graceful. The two of them quickly found themselves found themselves in a seeming complex of rooms, each one keenly labeled with the purpose of the room. Gym, Bathrooms, Library, etc. Sayaka seemed dead set on the Library, and the pair found their way inside. It was pretty big, to be honest.

No wall space was wasted on books, and a ladder rested on a wall for assistance in reaching the top shelves. There were a few bookshelves separate from the walls, accompanied by a lone desk (equipped with a chair and a lamp), of which was currently in use.

There was a small girl, bent over the desk, furiously typing on a small, green laptop. Makoto and Sayaka had apparently done nothing to alert her to their presence, as she just kept typing. Her outfit seemed comfier than anything. She wore a fuzzy, forest green sweater over a red, plaid collared shirt, a knee-length brown skirt was draped over black leggings with green sprawling circuitry. Over her left shoulder was a black computer bag, and on one of her ever-typing hands was an arthritis brace. Her most likely tech-based talent was only confirmed by a black headset equipped to her head. She was still typing. one of her hands occasionally dipped away from the melodious typing of her keyboard to thumb honey-colored hair out of her face or rub her cheek.

“H-hi?” Makoto offered, and the girl yelped, the sound of typing cutting out extremely quickly.

“O-oh, it’s just, more of you.” She shook her head and put a finger to her cheek. “People keep showing up and asking me if I ‘know anything’.” She sighed. “I guess when you type in an empty library, you get people like that, huh?”

“That makes sense,” Sayaka said. “Sayaka Maizono. What’s your name?”

“I’m Chihiro Fujisaki.” She said, seemingly unsure if she believed that herself. “I’m, the, uh, Ultimate Programmer.” Her eyes kept turning to the slender green laptop. Makoto took a few steps towards the desk, followed by Chihiro promptly snapping the computer up with her hands and shoving it into her computer bag. “That’s...private.” Makoto narrowed his eyes at her. Chihiro gave an uneasy smile and quickly pushed past Sayaka to leave.

Sayaka led him to the room next door, which had a sign reading “Warehouse”. Inside, was walls that were barely visible behind wireframe shelves stocked with any and all items Makoto could dream of. The room seemed to go on forever, and the shelves kept going back.

Three people stood within the Warehouse. One was a girl absolutely covered in black. She wore a black blazer over a massive gothic dress that reminded Makoto of a roulette wheel. Every inch of its frame was coated in red and black and green. Hanging around her neck was a dark red necktie, and on her ears were a pair of golden rotoscope earrings, turning with her every movement. Her pitch black hair was pulled into drills on either side of her head, and the silver claw ring on her left pointer finger clinked as it glided across the Warehouse boxes.

Another was a muscular boy with a simply massive pompadour. He wore a simple white tank-top, under a large, high collared grey and gold coat. Dressed to the nines with logos and marks, the biggest being the words "CRAZY DIAMONDS". He wore simple grey pants with boots that thunked with every step he took.

And finally, a vaguely man-shaped figure that could only be described as a cloud of hair.

“Hello?” Makoto called out into the room. It took only seconds for the girl to be next to him.

“Bonjour,” she said, her clawed finger twirling hair. “You know you should invest more into outfits, your current one isn’t fit for much.” She spoke with a thick European accent, some mix of french and German, that perfectly coincided with her aesthetic. “I assume you two are also students?” she stated, not even shooting a glance at either of them. Her red heels clicked as she walked, picking between boxes

“What are you looking for?” Sayaka inquired.

“Explosives.”

“WHAT THE FUCK” shouted one of the other two unknown occupants of the warehouse. The boy with the pompadour appeared from around a shelf, glaring at the black-clad girl.

“You heard me.”

“WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU NEED EXPLOSIVES?” He screamed, his hands clenched into fists.

“I’ve checked all the doors and windows, there is no way out. This warehouse seems to have everything, yes?” She aimed her claw ring at the boy’s head. “I figured there must be something I can use to escape.”

“B-but, explosives?!”

“Efficiency is key, is it not?” She aimed her finger to the ceiling. “We are being watched after all.” Makoto followed her finger to see a large green camera mounted from the ceiling. The mere sight of it sent his blood running cold.

“Apologies, I suppose I should introduce myself.” She dusted off nonexistent mess from her dress, then smiled, placing hands under her chin. “I am Celestia Ludenberg. I am the Ultimate Gambler. Pleased to meet your acquaintance.”

“Jesus Fuck.” The muscular boy shouted. “Get over yourself.”

“Why would I do that, I would fancy myself rather important. Can’t you see the way I’m dressed? It simply screams important.” Celeste sneered, all the while smiling. “So tell me, why should I care about you?”

The boy’s face lit up with rage. “BECAUSE I’M MONDO FUCKING OWADA! THE ULTIMATE BIKER GANG LEADER!” Celestia and Mondo stared at each other before a cruel smile curled onto her features.

“You think being a Biker gives you any recognition from me?” She dashed over to him and stuck her claw ring under his chin, inching it closer. “I’m above you. Some of us don’t need to resort to such barbaric forms of control to get people to do what we want.” Celeste quickly swiped her claw up his neck, leaving a small mark.

To quickly interrupt the silence, a head stuck its way through the shelf. “Any of Y'all know where I can find a crystal ball?”

Celestia and Mondo stared at him. He was easily the cloud of hair from before. A tired boy stared through it, wisps of neglected facial hair accenting his red-stained eyes. “AND WHO ARE YOU?!” Mondo yelled, his rage not quelling by this recent appearance.

“Uhh,” he thought for a second as if contemplating his own name. “Yasuhiro Hagakure! The Ultimate Clairvoyant!”

“Clairvoyant?” Makoto cut in. Celeste and Mondo, seemingly forgetting his presence, whipped their heads around in surprise.

“I can see the future, duh!” Hagakure blew a raspberry and waltzed around the shelf.

“Really.” Celeste deadpanned. “So you stare at crystal balls and sucker people out of their money all day? Hardly a talent.”

“Why are you so keen on bullying me, Celeste?” Hagakure looked legitimately hurt. “I thought we were friends…” Celestia sighed in exhaustion and promptly left the room, the warehouse door clattering behind her. Mondo stomped out soon after, and Hagakure resigned to wander the shelves.

 

Makoto wandered out of the Warehouse and followed Sayaka across the hall into a room marked with a money sign. Makoto gently pushed open the door to reveal a blonde boy stewing in frustration over an empty counter.

“Hello?” Makoto tried.

The boy responded with a glare of disgust.

“Are you still-”

“We're done with introductions, right? How much longer are you going to stand there? Go away. I'm sick of looking at you.” Makoto took a step back.

“Fine.” he spat. “You may address me as Byakuya Togami. I am The Ultimate Heir.” The two stared at each other for a moment in awkward silence, before Makoto closed the door behind him.

Sayaka wasn’t waiting for him when he got back, so he instead headed down the hallway leading to his right, which lead to a bright orange and blue room, labeled AV. Inside were a set of three rows each holding 6 stations.

In the third row was a girl with a pair of dark brown braids and gigantic glasses, scribbling into a book.

And near the back was a boy with very unnatural orange hair covered in piercings, furiously jamming CDs into a player. He took one step in until the girl’s head whipped around towards him.

“Nnnnghh-” she groaned, and within seconds she was pushing the door open.

“Wait-!” Makoto called after her, and she paused at the door, her groans of displeasure growing louder every second.

“Toko Fukawa. Ultimate Romance Novelist,” she stated. “Now stop looking at me,” and she was out the door.

“Jesus Christ.” the red-haired boy shrugged next to Makoto. The sheer amount of metal on this guy was shocking. A stud piercing under his mouth, ball piercing on his tongue, he could barely make out any type of ear under the clip earrings and fiery red hair. He wore a black shirt with some metal band on it that has definitely seen better days. Clips littered the jacket he wore over it, and all his fingers were covered with rings. “What's up with her?”

“Maybe she just doesn’t like meeting new people?” Makoto asked, giving an uneasy smile.

“Yeah, whatever.” He brushed red hair out of his face. “Anyway, Call me Leon. I’m the...Ultimate Baseball Star.” Makoto’s eyes widened, and Leon grimaced.

“Wh-Really? You look more like a Musician then anything.” Leon perked up.

“You think so?” A smile grew and spread across his face like wildfire. “That’s really the image I was going for.”

“Well, you definitely look the part!”

“Half the battle right?” Leon’s face fell. “I was looking for CDs ‘round here, but this place doesn’t have anything.”

“Do you, have any idea on what’s going on here?” Makoto asked.

“No idea,” Leon grunted. “Anyway, what’s your talent?”

“Uh, I, have, about that”

“You won the lottery?”

“How did you know?”

“Easy--I’m psychic.”

 

From the AV room, the hallway led into a large doorway marked “Inn”. Curious, Makoto followed the sign and proceeded through it. He ended up in a square, with rooms marked “Bathhouse”, “Dining Hall”, and a large area marked with nameplates. He’d have to check it out later.

He wasn’t even a step in before a large, overweight boy came tumbling out of the bathhouse, furiously collecting things spilling out a bright orange backpack. His shirt was barely visible under all those Anime and Manga pins, and small glasses threatened to fall off of his nose at all times. His hair was sculpted into a fine point, and his entire outfit was obnoxiously bright.

“YOU THERE!!” he called out, jabbing a rounded finger at Makoto.

“M-me?” he stuttered, cursing that..this guy had noticed him.

“Have you heard??” it was like he was talking about his religion. “Heard of the word of 2D???”

“2D?” Makoto asked, wary of just how close this guy was to him.

“2D!! Two Dimensional!” He struck a worried pose. “The only true way of enjoying life is through glorious 2D!” Makoto said nothing and squinted his eyes in confusion. He continued as if Makoto didn’t say anything. “IN THAT SHIMMERING UTOPIA OF 2D, I AM KNOWN AS HIFUMI YAMADA! THE ULTIMATE DOUJIN AUTHOR!!!”

He got in because he wrote and drew fanfiction? Could a school do that? He supposed the Ultimate Gambler was here, so anything could happen...Hifumi kept talking, and rather than continue listening about...Princess Piggles of the 4th dimension, Makoto resigned to escape in the dining hall.

Inside was a pair of girls chatting over some food. One wore a white wool tank top, along with a red track jacket tied around her waist, and a pair of shorts with a fish scale pattern. A knee band with the same fish scale pattern, and a few bracelets (Makoto recognized a few pride bracelets, but the others seemed to be purely for aesthetic), adorned her leg and arms.

The other struck an imposing and muscular figure, which was contrasted by the light pink school uniform she wore, with a white bowtie and a light blue skirt. Her arms and legs were wrapped with bandages around them. She wore tactile shoes and gloves, along with a large hair clip shaped like a sakura flower, that holds her hair in a stringy ponytail.

The first girl was eating chocolate donuts like no tomorrow, while the other was drinking some sort of smoothie. They both noticed Makoto upon his entrance.

“You seem to be in a hurry.” the muscular girl said, her voice grainy and succinct.

“I bet it was that Hifumi guy, he seemed nice enough, but I’m not sure I’m so interested in ‘2D’.” the other girl said, with a more bubbly inflection.

“You’d be correct…” Makoto sighed. “He came stumbling out of the bathhouse too! Wonder what happened there…”

“EWWW! I definitely don’t wanna know, TMI, TMI!” she shouted, arms moving to plug her ears.

“Let’s change the subject.” The other girl said. “My name is Sakura Oogami. I am The Ultimate Martial Arts Expert.”

“Aoi Asahina!-you can call me Hina-The Ultimate Swimmer!”

“Nice to meet you.” Makoto looked past the pair to see. A window. Not just any window, a window without any blocks on it. “Have you seen the-”

“Windows?” Sakura stopped him. “Don’t get your hopes up, it's just painted.” Makoto deflated.

“Don’t feel too bad. We fell for it too.” Aoi added.

Makoto looked down as a dreadful sound danced through the air. Over the loudspeakers played a light and cheery _Ding Dong Bing Bong._ As if someone just happened to be playing chimes through the speakers. And out came a voice that grated against Makoto’s skin like a saw-blade.

“Ahem, Ahem, Attention students of Hope’s Peak Academy! Please report to the Gymnasium at your soonest possible convenience!”

Makoto froze. He felt Hina, and Sakura walk out behind him. But he stood there, frozen. Makoto felt small. He felt lost. But before he even knew it, his legs moved against his own will. He was walking, walking down the hallway, past the Library, and the AV room, and he was walking into a trophy room.

Lined with golden wallpaper and red carpet, marked wall to wall with shows of might and strength, shows of raw power and ability. And at the end, a doorway to the gym.

Makoto took one step. Then another. And another. He was lost, he was small, he was insignificant. Would half these students even remember meeting him?

Then the doors opened around his body, and he saw his “classmates”. 15 gifted Ultimates. At the far end of the gymnasium, lay a stage. And at the top of a podium on top of that stage, sat a single teddy bear.

  
“Is this some kind of Joke?” Junko called out.

“It’s just...a plushie.” Said Chihiro.

“Nothing but a waste of my time.” Byakuya scoffed.

“HOW DARE YOU!” Yelled the Teddy Bear.

The whole room erupted into screams. It’s the same voice from the intercom. It couldn’t be the teddy bear talk. It was someone else. Someone controlling the bear. Yes, that was it, it was just a robot. That was all it was. The robot stood up seamlessly. Half it’s body was white, with black eyes, while the other half was pitch black, with a twisted grin and a jagged, torn red eye. “I am your direct superior! How dare you address me like that young man!” It said, it’s mouth motionless, but it’s body wildly gesticulating in the air.

“What...is it?” Toko stuttered, running her hands through one of her braids.

“It’s some kind of robot, it has to be right?” Chihiro wondered aloud.

“I CAN HEAR YOU, DELINQUENTS!!!” The bear shouted. “Sheesh, kids these days!”

“It-it can’t be a robot!” Hagakure shouted. “It has to be a g-g-g-ghost!!”

“Please, don’t be absurd, pothead.” Celeste sneered. “It’s clearly just a robot. Someone has to be controlling it.”

“I’m not an IT!!” its voice grew to a shrill whirr. “I AM MONOKUMA, AND I AM YOUR HEADMASTER!” The gymnasium grew to silence.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Sayaka sighed.

“What the fuck,” Junko cursed.

“Monokuma.” came a steady and calm voice. “That was your name, was it?” The frame of Kyoko Kirigiri walked through the crowd.

“Of course! I am Headmaster Monokuma!” It pounded its fists through the air in a cheering motion.

“If you are the headmaster of Hope’s Peak Academy,” she started, crossing her arms. “Then why have you brought us here?” Her voice had the air of someone watching a TV show. She was perfectly calm and perfectly steady.

“Why, only for the most joyous of occasions!”

“That is?”

“To play a game!” Monokuma’s voice whirred happily. “A personal favorite game of mine!”

“Oh just spit it out already!” Shouted Mondo. His hands balled into fists.

“Welcome, my beautiful students,” Monokuma’s smile shimmered with glee. “ **To the Killing Game!** ” The students stopped. They didn’t move, they didn’t dare. They all stood there, watching a monochrome teddy bear tell them to play a Killing Game.

“W-what?” Sayaka’s voice was the first to break the silence. “What do you mean, ‘Killing Game’?”

“Surprised??” Monokuma whirred. “That’s normal. But you’ll get over it soon! I believe in you, my glorious students.”

“What are the rules?” Kirigiri asked as if this was a simple Saturday afternoon for her.

“Simple! You are to stay in this school, forever!” Monokuma paused, seemingly waiting for applause. “And if you want to leave,” Monokuma’s torn red eye shone brighter, it’s unnaturally wide grin seeming to grow. “You just have to _kill_ a fellow student, and make sure you don’t get caught!”

 

And then, just then, they knew, what they were brought here to feel. What they were brought here to be a part of. They were meant to experience true, total, complete, ultimate, **Despair.**


	2. Home Run Performance-DAILY LIFE

Despair was something Makoto felt. It was a 50-ton brick plummeting deep inside of him. Total, Complete, Ultimate Despair. Makoto didn’t move. He didn’t talk, all he could hear was the panicked voices of his peers.

“KILL? WHAT THE HELL DOES IT MEAN KILL?”

“I WANNA GO HOMEEEEEEEEE”

“Why...how...I don’t…”

“FUCK THIS! FUCK! THIS!”

“Trapped…?”

 

“CHILDREN!” The metallic whir of Monokuma kicked Makoto out of his trance.

“Tell us what’s going on. Now.” Kirigiri spat.

“You already know, Ms. Kirigiri!” Monokuma’s jagged eye gleamed, it’s inhuman glare seeming to fix itself onto Makoto. “Be it, poison, bash, slash, stab, any of em will work! I’m not picky!” Monokuma hopped from his podium and onto the floor, as smooth as if he was an actual live being. “As long as it’s murder! It’s fine with me!”

“We won’t kill each other,” said Sayaka. “We would NEVER kill each other just to leave. Never in a million years.”

“Oh, Ms. Maizono...would you bet on that?” Monokuma’s metallic voice hopped up and down and up and down, Makoto supposed he was giggling. “You barely know these people! Are you ssssssurreeee they wouldn’t kill you? That they wouldn’t stab you in the back just like that? Just to leave?”

“Who would do that?! No one is selfish enough to kill someone! Right?”

The room stood silent.

“...Right?”

“Careful Ms. Maizono! Or you might end up with a knife in your back come morning!” he waddled back to the podium, dashing up to it in the blink of an eye. “Now! Let’s get into some School Rules!” He spread his paws out in front of him, “Would everyone please look into their pockets???” Makoto let his hand creep towards his pocket, slowly, every so slowly reaching the opening there. He reached in, expecting to feel the warmth inside of his hoodie, only to be chilled by cool metal. 

“What is this?” Celeste asked. “Some kind of, phone?”

“You get an E-Handbook! You get an E-Handbook! EVERYONE GETS AN E-HANDBOOK!!!” Monokuma shouted with glee. “You know you really should be thanking me, the board really wanted to jump for those window coverings to be removed, but I insisted we pool our efforts for the handbooks.” Monokuma whirred with happiness. “Now, who wants to read the rules?” no one moved. “I’m gonna pick on someone if you don’t volunteer…”

Makoto’s hand moved on its own.

“Thank you, Makoto! Finally someone with some respect around here!”

Makoto’s hands tapped the small screen, opening up a rules list with his name proudly listed at the top. The screen blinked to life, listing a set of rules.

“Nighttime is 10 pm. Daytime begins at 7 am. During Nighttime, the Dining hall and gymnasium are off limits.”

“Violence against Headmaster Monokuma will not be permitted, and will be punished accordingly.”

“E-Handbooks allow people access to their dorm rooms. Lending your E-Handbook is strictly prohibited.”

“With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion.”

“Sleeping outside of the dorm rooms will be considered sleeping in class, and will be punished accordingly.”

“Once a student has successfully committed murder, and become blackened, a class trial will be held.”

Makoto flicked off the E-Handbook, and all eyes went to Monokuma.

“Oh! Did I forget to mention the Class Trials?” Monokuma tilted his head in innocence. “Well, when someone commits a murder and becomes Blackened, I will assemble the remaining students to have a friendly class trial! If all the students can deduce the true culprit of the murder, only the Blackened will be Punished.” Monokuma’s red eye glinted with malice. “But if you can’t guess correctly...then all but the Blackened will be punished, and the Blackened may go free.”

“What do you mean by...punished?” Makoto asked.

“Why,” Monokuma stood to his full height. “Killed, of course!”

Makoto took in a sharp breath. Of course. Was he even surprised at this point?

“Well! I guess your headmaster must be off! Goodbye, my students!” and then he was gone in the blink of an eye. One second there, the next, gone without a trace. It was a few minutes before words filled the air again. Our minds twisting around the air with no thoughts, only sadness, only despair.

“So? What are you going to do now?” Kirigiri’s voice cut through the mist. “Just stand around glaring at each other?” Her comment was directed at everyone in the room. It pulled Makoto back together. “Obviously we have to create a plan.”

“She’s right, we have to move on,” Makoto said his hands rubbing up and down his arms. His hoodie felt heavy on his skin.

“What do you mean move on?! A teddy bear just told us to kill each other! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN MOVE ON?!” Leon shouted, his voice cracking.

“Come on, why fret now? Only the strong survive-”

“Jesus Christ.” surprisingly, the elusive Toko Fukawa broke off Byakuya. “Do you ever shut up? I’ve heard you say maybe 10 words total, and I already hate all of them.”

“For now, you should all just shut up,” Celeste said. “We need to look for a way out.”

“And totally find the guy controlling that bear and beat the shit out of them,” Junko shouted.

“We can’t, ‘Beat the shit out of them’,” Chihiro stated. “The rules say that violence against Monokuma will result in death.”

“I think we should all pay close attention to the rules,” Celeste said. “After all, it’s either we follow the rules, or we die.”

“All rules have loopholes. All we need to do is exploit them.” Kirigiri offered.

“Monokuma is unpredictable,” Celestia stated. “We can’t afford a single slip up. Anything else would be simply foolish, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Ultimate Gambler, correct?”

“Kyoko Kirigiri, if I recall.”

“Time is of the essence here. We have to learn as much as we can, right now.” Kirigiri seethed.

“Monokuma is dangerous, Ms. Kirigiri. We know nothing about him or what he’s capable of. Until we have a clear definition of his capabilities, we can’t afford to do anything but adapt.” Celestia shot back, shooting daggers into Kirigiri with a plastered smile on her face.

“Listen here, whatever your name is,”

“Celestia Ludenberg.” She tapped her clawed finger to the side of her face. “Make sure you remember.”

“Miss Ludenberg.” Kirigiri spat. “Our lives are quite literally at stake here.”

“I understand, Miss Kirigiri.” her voice doused in venom. “And I fully intend to see myself survive.” Everyone noticed the word myself. Celestia Ludenberg couldn’t care less about the class. The Ultimate Gambler was out for herself.

“Good. Then I don’t have to worry about you then.” Kirigiri responded.

“I would not dream of it.” Celeste shot back, offering a hand. The sharp glimmer of Celeste’s claw ring shone against the studs lining Kirigiri’s black-gloved fingers.

“Would the rest of the class like to offer something to the conversation? I hate to be leading the discussion here.” Celeste smiled.

“Please stop,” Sayaka said, her voice quivering. “We can’t afford to fight.” 

“Who’s this ‘we’?” Toko spat. “As far as I know, our biggest threat right now is ourselves.” Her chipped black nails scratched against her sleeve.

“You talk as if you wait for someone to kill you-” Byakuya started.

“SHUT UP YOU SPLEENY ROUGH-HEWN BUM-BAILEY!” Toko shouted. “I BET YOU CAN’T EVEN COOK FOR YOURSELF! ULTIMATE HEIR MY ASS!”

“How dare you speak to me that way! I am Byakuya T-”

“I know you are! And believe me when I say I REALLY DO NOT CARE ONE BIT!” Toko grilled. “YOUR FUCKING TALENT IS BEING RICH YOU BAWDY FEN-SUCKED DEWBERRY!”

“Please stop fighting! We really can’t be at each other's throats!” Sayaka pleaded. “We just have to get out of here and it’s not possible if we’re fighting!”

“Right now, we need to explore! The rules said we can explore freely, right?” Leon spoke up.

“I’ll go with you!” Makoto said, raising his hand.

“Me too! Come on, let’s all form groups!” Sayaka offered, forcing a smile onto her face. The 15 of them begrudgingly formed groups, or 3-4, all intent on leading their own investigations. Leon, Sayaka, and Makoto returned to the Inn portion of the school, specifically to the dining hall.

“Jesus.” Leon sighed in awe. “I keep forgetting how big this place is.”

“Regardless,” Sayaka said. “We need to be as fast as possible. The dining hall is off limits after 10 pm, remember?”

“That’s right,” Makoto stated, his voice a half-whisper. “You wanted to see how much food is here, right Leon?”

“Yup. We might be here for a while before we figure out how to escape.” Leon responded, walking through a pair of double-doors. The inside was massive. THe room lined wall to wall with freezers and cupboards, a cook’s dream. Mixes, utensils, ovens, everything. 

“How could someone have kept everything stocked here?” Sayaka said. “Doesn’t this food have expiration dates?”

“Maybe they have something that restocks?” Makoto inquired, peering into the cupboards.

“Monokuma plans for everything, I’m sure there’s some system,” Leon responded. 

“What do you all think about Monokuma?” Sayaka asked from behind a jug of milk, reading the label. 

“It was so lifelike…” Makoto whispered, thinking back to the terrifyingly fluid movements of the bear.

“When I saw it…” Leon started. “I felt this weird feeling. Indescribable, really.”

Despair. Makoto thought to himself. “Really?”

“I just want to get out of here…” Sayaka mused. “I have a lot I need to do.”

“Like what?” Makoto asked.

“Well,” Sayaka started. “You’ve seen me and my group, right?”

“Yeah,” Leon said. “They don’t call you The Ultimate Pop Idol for nothing.”

“Really?” Makoto asked.

“What do you mean ‘Really’?!” Leon shot back, his face dusted with red almost as fiery as his hair.

“Your aesthetic doesn’t really scream, ‘Pop’,” Makoto explained.

Leon resigned to grumbling as Sayaka filled the room with giggles. “As I was saying, my group and I are the closest five people could possibly be. We know everything about each other.” Her slight smile wavered. “I’m 16,” she said, her voice cracking. “I’ve done lots of things to get where I am today, and I would do anything for my friends.” her eyes watered as she spoke. “The higher you climb to the top, the harder you fall down. I am terrified of falling. The second I’m not there, the second I’m not in the public eye, I’m falling. I can’t let that happen.” Sayaka’s hands went to her mouth as tears threatened to stream from her face.

“Sayaka?” Makoto whispered as Leon stepped forward. “Sayaka are you okay?”

Sayaka Maizono sank to the floor. “I have to get out of here!” Sayaka stared up at Makoto, her face stained with tears. “Makoto, Leon, promise me! Promise me you’ll help me get out!” Makoto nodded furiously, while Leon stepped forward.

“I’ll help.” Sayaka looked him up and down. “I’ll help you get out. If you help me.”

Sayaka offered him a hand. “Sounds like a d-deal.”

Bing Bong Ding Dong!

Makoto froze.

“Ahem! Attention students! It is now 10 PM! Which means it is officially Nighttime! In a few minutes those dining hall doors will shut, and after that access to that room is strictly prohibited! Goodnight! Don’t let the bedbugs bite!” Monokuma’s voice left him speechless, as he felt Leon tug him outside the dining hall, just in time for the doors to close. Makoto quickly regained his footing in time to stand up outside of the freshly closed off room. Leon, Sayaka and the rest of the students were gathered around the black and white area with tons of doors, explaining something. He trotted over and joined the group, just in time to hear what he assumed to be the meetings general consensus. 

“I elect to say that all of us should meet up in the Dining Hall first thing in the morning.” Came Celestia’s accented voice. “It would be best for us to reconvene as early as possible.”

“That might have been the first good decision you’ve made,” Kirigiri responded.

“Come on,” Sayaka said. “We’ll need to be wide awake tomorrow.”

Soon after, the students dispersed to their respective rooms, uneasy goodnights tossed through the air like a paper airplane during a hailstorm. The words batted to the ground without a second thought.

The inside of Makoto’s dorm was no less unsettling. The walls were a pale blue, with a pale white carpet lining the whole of the room. A closet full of simple outfits accompanied a large bed with a green comforter. Another door marked with “Bathroom”, and a desk was located near the door, equipped with a lint roller. And of course, the customary surveillance camera. Makoto groaned and kicked his shoes off, his feet dragging as he made his way to his bed, sitting down and removing his hoodie. The baggy piece of clothing hit the floor with a thump. What time was it anyway? The nighttime announcement came a few minutes ago, it couldn’t be too late after 10. In any of the rooms he visited, no clocks were visible. Makoto’s hands clamped onto his face as tears threatened to spill from his eyes at any minute. He forced his face into the unnaturally comfortable bed of his dorm, his consciousness slipping away piece by piece.

Makoto was tired. His eyes stared down at the comforter, seeing nothing but a simple bed. Maybe, if he just stayed in bed, he’d realize this was all a dream and fly away. But his semi-awake body didn’t take to the skies and looking up, he saw the same dorm room. He dressed in silence, not bothering to change. The school seemed colder than yesterday. Between the threat of murder and Monokuma, nothing felt safe. Makoto’s fingers curled around the Dining Hall, and pushing the door open found the room fully populated by his classmates, all enjoying breakfast. He sought out Leon and Sayaka, who were both eating some brand of cereal, with an empty space between them. Makoto shuffled over, planting himself between the pair.

“Ah! Glad to see you’re awake.” Sayaka smiled. “We were beginning to suspect you’d been murdered.” She winked, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“Here.” Leon said between bites, holding a donut in his hand. “I managed to sneak one of these away from Hina. Eat it while you can.” he smiled, which would have been comforting if not for the fact that he was gulping down food at the same time.

“Are we all here then?” Said Hina, from her place at the front of the table. Leon wasn’t kidding, she was practically drowning in Donuts.

“15 students present and accounted for!” Taka yelled in response, his posture as vertical as ever.

“Wonderful.” Celeste clapped her hands together. “Then I suppose we should begin planning.”

“Planning?” Makoto asked.

“Hair-Drills wanted us here to talk about ‘strategy’.” Toko hissed.

“Precisely.” Celestia stood up, her heels clicking with every step. “Adaption is our survival here.” She waltzed behind Kirigiri, resting an elbow on her head. “If our class wishes to survive, then our only choice is to grow accustomed to our new communal living.

Kirigiri dashed away, moving Celeste off of her. “We shouldn’t be here. What we need to be doing is focusing on our escape.”

“And they’re at it again…” Hina sighed. Sakura put a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

“HEY! SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Junko’s voice shattered the growing argument. “Do you all hear that?”

Ding Dong Bing Bong!

 

“Ahem! Attention students! Would you all report to the gymnasium pretty please?”

 

Makoto’s impending fear, piling up was toppled down by Leon’s hand on his shoulder. The class walked down through the Inn, and into the gymnasium. Monokuma was waiting for them, the teddy bear lounging on the podium.

“Heeellloooo dear students!” He whirred. “I am so happy to see you!”

“Cut the crap.” Junko hissed. “Why do you want now?”

“How rude!!” Monokuma pouted without his mouth moving. “Who raised you, Miss Enoshima?”

“JUST STOP TALKING AND SPIT IT OUT!” Mondo shouted.

“Fine! You’d expect a little respect but noooo! The teenagers have to be temperamental, neh neh neh…”

“Monokuma?”

“Huh?”

“You called us here for a reason, right?” Sayaka shook out. 

“Thank you Miss Maizono! That’s correct! Ding Ding Ding!” He applauded his static paws, then leaned towards the group. “It gets REAL boring when your students don’t do what you ask, so I came up with something to spice up your daily life!”

Monokuma paused, waiting for some kind of reaction. No one said anything. No one dared. “I’ve provided a HI-LARIOUS motive!”

“M-motive?” Toko stuttered. “What, what the hell do you mean, motive?” Her hands furiously ran through one of her braids, the hair threatening to break apart.

“Motive? Was escape not enough?” Sakura sneered.

“This is HIGHLY against the rules!” Kiyotaka shouted.

“Silence.” Celeste’s voice shouted. “Mr. Monokuma, would you kindly tell us what our motive is?”

“Why thank you Miss Ludenberg! Finally some respect around here! SHEESH!” Monokuma looked down, in an attempt to seem sympathetic. Something like rage bubbled in Makoto’s stomach. “Your motive is quite simple!” Monokuma splayed his paws out, as 15 DVDs-seemingly sprouting from nowhere-appeared on the podium. “Your motive are on these tapes!”

“That’s complete bullshit…” Toko unsubtly thought aloud. “What could be on those tapes would make us kill?” Toko’s words banged around the room, but her face shuttered.

“How are we supposed to even watch them?” Byakuya groaned. “I didn’t see any viewing equipment.” 

“Maybe you were too busy being half-piped cranberry pudding to notice the AV room,” Toko hissed, causing Byakuya to fold.

“We should just get it over with…” Makoto choked out. “The AV room should have enough stations for us all to watch the tapes.”

“Splendid!” Monokuma collected the DVD's and brought them to the students, waddling from Ultimate to Ultimate. “Here you are, yes, yes, alright!” Upon his completion, the bear returned to the podium, pleased. “See you next time, students! Bye Bye!” Makoto blinked and he was gone. The walk to the AV Room was distressing at best. The room was still annoyingly orange. All the students quickly dispersing to one of the DVD stations. Makoto, taking the disc out of the case, cautiously inserted it, his shaking hands barely lining up the disc.

The video flickered to life and showed him an image that made his heart drop. 

“Hi, Makoto!” Said the happy, safe, voice of his sister. Komaru Naegi’s short choppy hair smiled at him through the screen. “Congrats on making it into Hope’s peak! Mom and Dad are super proud of you, but I wanted to make sure you got a special congratulations from your sweet baby sister.” He knew she was saying it sarcastically, but his whole body shook. How did Monokuma get this? What happened to her? “Anyway! Have a great time! And don’t get expelled. Now, how the hell do you turn this off...” Komaru pressed something, and the screen changed. It was his living room, the one Komaru was in. But it was destroyed. The furniture laid ripped and mangled, Komaru nowhere to be seen. 

“What happened to the darling youngest child of the Naegi family?” The horrid, robotic voice appeared in the video. “Find out after graduation!” And the screen flickered off. Judging by the other student's reactions, they received similar videos. They all yelled and screamed, furiously shouting for Monokuma. Even Celeste seemed to be giving off an emotion that wasn’t snark.

“Puhuhu…” Monokuma’s voice appeared in the doorway, as the bear itself walked into the room. “Did you all enjoy your motives? They took me so very long to put together, but I pulled through in the end!” Monokuma sighed happily, it’s eye glowing.

“BASTARD!” Sakura shouted. “How could you do this? How did you do this?!”

“Things get boorrring fast Miss Ogami! Maybe I just wanna spice up the killing game! I just care so much about you! I just want you to have fun…” Monokuma stared at the floor, downtrodden.

“If you really cared about us you wouldn’t be doing this!” Hina shouted.

“Puhuhu…”

“W-what did you do to them?” Sayaka spoke, walking towards the headmaster.”

Monokuma perked up. “Find out after Graduation!”

“OH SHUT UP!” Mondo screamed. “YOU DON’T GET TO FUCKING TOY WITH US!”

“But you are quite literally my captives, Mr. Oowada!” Monokuma tilted its head. “I can do whatever I want!” The shouting just kept coming after that. Yelling at Monokuma, and Monokuma yelling back clever retorts. Makoto didn’t say anything. His face froze. He carried himself out of the AV room, and into the Inn. It couldn’t be that late, right? Makoto gravitated towards the Dining Hall. Food Therapy always helped, at least emotionally. The kitchen truly was impressive. But ignoring everything, Makoto went for some sort of off-brand cookie, trying his best to ignore the several sharp implements someone could easily use to kill. He pushed that thought deep down inside of him, instead focusing on the small brown discs of sugar he was shoving inside of him. He sat like that for a few minutes. Makoto was tired. He was tired now, and he would be tired later. He was tired when the door to the kitchen opened and none other than Leon Kuwata and Aoi Asahina walked in.

“Makoto? Are you okay?” He distantly heard Hina worry. “We got worried when we realized you weren’t there. Sayaka would’ve come but…” Hina paused, biting her lip. “She was busy,” Makoto recalled the last time Sayaka talked about getting out of here, the last time she was in this room.

“Anyway, we’re just the first two anyway, Celeste wanted to talk over dinner. About everyone’s motive videos.” Makoto tensed at Leon’s words.

“That bad, huh?” Leon sighed. “All the videos shook us. It’s not just you.”

“My sister. Komaru.” Makoto blurted. “She...they,” Makoto’s teeth clenched. “If anything happened to her, I swear I will-”

“Don’t talk like that!” Hina yelled. “Don’t talk like you’re gonna kill someone!”

“You don’t have to say anything you don’t want to, Makoto.” Leon offered, smiling. Just then, what seemed like thousands of voices broke down the doors to the dining hall, and Hina, Makoto, and Leon soon joined the rest of the students.

“WHOEVER’S BEHIND THIS IS GONNA DIE!” Toko’s voice seemed to envelop the room, her hands ripping at her braids furiously, while Hifumi and Hagakure’s whines seemed to harmonize together as Sayaka and Junko took to mutually staring at nothing.

“Everyone!” Kirigiri broke the yelling with a shout. “We came here to discuss. Not scream.” She tossed a wilting glare at Hifumi and Hagakure. “Did everyone’s videos contain something similar?” Everyone nodded, except Sayaka, who seemed frozen.

“Someone or something close to you wishing you luck or being happy…” Celeste started, her silver claw threatening to draw blood on her palm. “Then having them whisked away before your very eyes.” Kirigiri squinted at the Gambler, Celeste’s clawed hand moving to her arm.

“Nevertheless, we cannot allow this to deter us,” Kirigiri said. “We cannot play this game.” On that ominous note, a cheery tone rang through the room.

Ding Dong Bing Bong!

“Ahem! Attention students! It is now 10 PM! Which means it is officially Nighttime! In a few minutes those dining hall doors will shut, and after that access to that room is strictly prohibited! Goodnight! Don’t let the bedbugs bite!” And with that, the students returned to their dorms, shaken and frustrated. Some stopped to talk, Sayaka and Leon sticking around and setting something up, Celeste and Kirigiri debating, etc. Makoto was tired. His sleep was near non-existent with the image of his sister’s possible peril still fresh in his mind. He only fell asleep after lying to himself, saying that tomorrow will be better. 

Oh, how wrong he was.

Makoto woke up early. He woke up way too early for his well-being. Still, he figured being early to the dining hall would be good for him. Maybe he could help whoever was there with food preparations. Maybe he would be more useful than yesterday. He hadn’t eaten a lot recently, it would probably do him some good. The walk to the hall was lethargic at best, his hand moving to push open  
the door and-

There are only a few times in your life that you see something that changes how you act forever. Graduating from college, or seeing your child being born, things like that. This was one of those things. He would always remember how he felt that morning. The morning when Makoto Naegi sobbed in despair as he saw the lifeless body of Leon Kuwata, The Ultimate Baseball star, lying dead on the Dining Hall’s blood splattered floor.


	3. A Homerun Performance-DEADLY LIFE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like the trial portion is hella rushed, but im tired so who cares

“Wuh-oh! A body has been discovered!” sang Monokuma’s proud voice as the door opened two more times. “As this is your first time, your headmaster would like to request you all come down to the gym!” The voice shut off and Makoto was alone again.

“...Leon?” Hina said, her face twisted with regret. “Leon?”

“He’s, dead.” Said Sakura. “Who-who would dare to do this?”

Makoto just stared. Stared at the body of Leon Kuwata, that just last night was full of life. He had so much left to do. Similar reactions soon flooded the room. Toko screamed, Hifumi vomited, Mondo punched the wall, Sayaka ran, etcetera. 

“Who was the first to see him?” Kirigiri asked upon seeing the body. 

“M-makoto.” Hina returned, clinging to Sakura for dear life.

“Makoto,” Kirigiri leaned down to look him in the eyes. “When you came to the dining hall this morning, was Leon already dead?” That one hit him. He was dead. He was completely, totally, dead. No matter how hard he tried or prayed, Leon Kuwata was ultimately, dead. He nodded.

“Pardon me, but let’s leave the investigation for later, shall we?” Celeste said. “We have a meeting to attend, right? Monokuma asked us to the gym.”

“Fuck him!” Mondo yelled. “Why the hell should we have to listen to him?! Someone DIED!”

“Exactly. Someone did die. But he’s still our headmaster, and he could still kill us at any moment, so I suggest we do as he says for now.”

Begrudgingly, the class made their way to the gym, and waiting for them was Monokuma, pretending to sip what looked like Orange Juice out of a martini glass.

“JEEZ LOUISE!” It shouted, lazily throwing the glass behind itself and waiting for it to shatter. “Took you guys long enough!”

“What do you want?” Kirigiri hissed. “We have an investigation to get to. We need to find out the killer, right?”

“Indeed! 100%!” Monokuma waddled into an upright position. “You’ll have your investigation time, don’t worry.” He grinned. Not that he wasn’t always grinning, but it seemed larger. “I just wanted to congratulate the Blackened! Thank you so much for being so brave and kicking off our Killing Game! It gets boring fast!” 

“So...you don’t know who it is?” Toko started. “How are we supposed to guess if you don’t know who did it! How, do we know that you aren’t framing one of us!” She yelled, jabbing a finger at the bear.

Monokuma let out a fake gasp. “I am WOUNDED!” He put a paw over his head in shock. “My own students?! Telling me I’M the Blackened??? Why, It’s simply unBEARable!!!”

“OH SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Screamed Junko. “I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO YOUR INANE FUCKIN’ BABBLING FOR TOO LONG!” She dashed up to the podium surprisingly quickly for someone in combat boots. “SO,” her perfectly done nails grabbed the bear by his neck, throwing him down on the linoleum floor. “SHUT!” STOMP. “THE!” STOMP. “FUCK!” STOMP. “UP!” STOMP. Junko just kept attacking him. She didn’t stop. “I AM SO SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR STUPID VOICE!”

“Miss Enoshima! Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited!” Monokuma whirred.

“Huh? W-WAIT!” She panicked, removing her heel and stepping back. 

“How dare you break the rules so blatantly!” He raised his paws from his place on the floor. “Spears of Gungir! TO ME!” Monokuma’s paws hit the floor, and spear after spear of razor sharp blades rose from the ground and embedded themselves inside Junko. More and more stabbed her from all angles, coating them in blood.

“W-what?” Junko croaked. “This…” She smiled in disbelief. “This wasn’t…” Her hands went to her hair, tearing at her pigtails. “Why me…? Why...J-” And Junko Enoshima, The Ultimate Fashionista, never moved again.

The next sound that followed the dull thunk of Junko’s corpse hitting the ground was screaming. Screaming upon screaming at Monokuma, at Junko, at each other.

“Students please!” Monokuma whined. “All Miss Enoshima did was break a rule! Are you really against me doling out a fair punishment?”

“Fair?!” Hina shouted. “WHAT ABOUT THAT WAS FAIR?!”

“I told you myself, Miss Asahina!” Monokuma said, dusting himself off. “Breaking the rules will result in punishment!” He looked at Junko’s once pristine body, her outfit stained by blood. “Miss Enoshima simply stepped out of line! It’s what any Headmaster would’ve done in the situation.”

“How dare you!” Sakura yelled. “How dare you stand there and tell us our friend is dead because you simply got bored!”  
“Miss Enoshima broke a rule, Miss Oogami.” Monokuma whirred suddenly serious. “I expected more from you. Siding with troublemakers are we?” Sakura didn’t respond. “Anywho! The investigation period has begun! You students have three full hours to investigate the murder of Leon Kuwata, and then deduce the Blackened during the class trial! Starting...NOW!” The gymnasium doors burst open, and Monokuma began ushering the now 13 students out.

  
  


“Alright. Let’s get to work.” Kirigiri wasted no time bolting to the dining hall, Makoto and Celeste hot on her tail. Makoto had to restrain himself from puking at the sight of Leon’s body, which must have been there for awhile. Kirigiri didn’t say a word, she just walked up to the body and got to work. She examined every inch of Leon. She pulled a magnifying glass from her coat and comed his body.

“Find anything?” Said Celeste, as nonchalant as usual, her hands folded at her waist.

“Wound. Lot’s of wounds.” Kirigiri motioned for Celeste and Makoto, one of which was less happy to approach a corpse.

“God. Someone didn’t know when to stop.” Celeste sighed. She didn’t make any contact with the corpse, but still leaned in as intently as Kirigiri. Makoto was at least a few feet back.

“The victim suffered several knife wounds to his chest and upper abdomen. The killing blow seemed to be a stab to his middle stomach.”

“Hey everyone.” Chihiro stated, stepping into the Dining hall, averting her eyes from Leon. “Toko told me to tell you she wouldn't be joining you in the investigation. She hates blood.”

“Thank you, Chihiro.” Kirigiri said. “If that is al-”

“N-no!” she interrupted. “I...wanted to help. However I could.”

“You can join Makoto. He’s working on doing nothing.” Celeste snapped. She waved a hand in his face. “See? Nothing! Earth to Makoto! Make yourself useful!”

“Kirigiri,” he said. “What do you want me to do?” Makoto asked, doing his best to pretend Celeste wasn’t there. 

“Check the dorm area. Look for anything you can. Here.” She offered him her magnifying glass. “Take Chihiro. Look for whatever you can.” Makoto nodded as Chihiro followed him out. He took in a breath.

“It’s okay...if you aren’t okay.” Chihiro said. “He did…”

“I know.” Makoto said. “But he have to get to work.” Makoto combed the floor. Looking for anything that would give them a hint.

“What’s that?” Chihiro pointed to a blotch on the floor leading to the dorm area. Makoto and Chihiro moved to the indicated point, to see a blotch of dried blood. 

“Dodododo…Hello students!” Came a mechanical voice. “Just here to drop of a file, don’t mind me!” Monokuma made a noise akin to humming, then was gone.

“Creep.” Makoto looked up to see Mondo, his eyes glaring at the bear. “Doesn’t know when to stop. What’re you up to?”

“Investigation.” Chihiro stated. “We’re looking for clues.”

“Seriously? Well good on you.” Mondo crossed his arms over his chest. “If Monokuma tries anything, I’ll beat the shit out of him.”

“Too soon, Mondo.” Chided Celeste, pushing the door open, Kirigiri in tow.

“We have new clues.” Kirigiri said, holding up a large black file folder with Monokuma’s face on it. The document was labeled “The Monokuma File #1”. “Time of death, murder weapon, victim’s measurements, etc.”

“That’s gotta help a bit, right?” Chihiro offered, forcing a smile on her face.

“It’s mostly new, and mostly helpful, information, but not enough.” Kirigiri grimaced. “We need to find the murder weapon itself, ask people for their accounts, or even their alibi.”

Makoto offered a hand. “May I, see the file.” Kirigiri’s gloved hand tentatively handed it to him. Makoto quickly opened it, sighing when he saw the contents.

 

Time of Death: 1:36 AM.

 

Victim Measurements   
Height: 5'9"

Weight: 148 lbs   
Chest Size: 80 cm   
Blood Type: B-

 

Murder Weapon: Kitchen Knife

 

And pictured below the information, was a picture of Leon’s corpse at 7:01 AM. Makoto handed the file back to Kirigiri.

“Anyway, let’s ask around. Where are the others?”

“Their rooms.” Chihiro said. “They all have their own reasons, we’re all still shaken after…” Chihiro bit her lip. “Junko.”

“I want to talk to them.” Kirigiri said. “I realise msot of them were asleep at the time of the murder, but we can’t leave a stone unturned. We only have two and a half hours left.”

 

“I was asleep, duh!” Toko shouted. “Why would I get up for a midnight snack anyway?”

 

“I was trying to burn sage, but I couldn’t find any so I just used parsley from my pocket.” Hagakure offered.

 

“I was asleep.” Sayaka stated, gripping her wrist.

 

“So Byakuya, Sayaka, Toko, Chihiro, Taka Hina, and Sakura were asleep.” Makoto repeated.

“Mondo, Hagakure, Hifumi, and myself were all awake, but not outside our dorms.” Celeste affirmed to herself.

“But any of us could easily be lying. It does have to be one of us.” Kirigiri thought aloud, tracing the studs on the back of her gloves.

“We should look around the rest of the school. For anything we might have missed.”

“Don’t worry, I already checked the rest of the Inn and the main area.”

“What about the trash room? The..killer could have tried to dispose of evidence.”

“Good idea. Lead the way.” Chihiro nodded and headed off to the main area, Kirigiri, Makoto and Celeste in tow.

 

The trash room was a large room with an incinerator, trash compactor, and chute for denser materials that couldn’t be compacted. Celeste started off to the Incinerator, raising the cover to examine the mechanisms functions. Meanwhile Kirigiri handled the rest.

Makoto walked towards Kirigiri, she scared him less. “See anything?”

Kirigiri didn’t respond, just combed through the soon to be crushed trash, due for the compactor. And held a single kitchen knife over her head. “The murder weapon.”

“Ah.” Celeste walked over. “How did this end up here?”

“The killer must have tried to dispose of any-” Kirigiri dove back into the compactor box, holding a lint roller.

“What the hell?” Makoto snatched it from her hands. “This looks like the rollers in our dorms.”

“What do you think, Kirigiri?” Celeste said. “You’re in control of the situation, right?”

“I think, Gambler,” Kirigiri stood up, dusting her coat off. “Leon tried to fight back.”

 

Ding Dong Bing Bong!   
  
“Attention my  _ 13 _ students!” Monokuma’s voice blared to life from the PA. “The Investigation period has ended! Please go to the Entry Hall to meet with your wonderful headmaster!”

 

“Save the rest for the trial.” Celeste spat, and begun  waltzing away to the entry hall. Kirigiri and Makoto followed after her, walking to the hall. The bear statue still stood there, with, 13 students-and one headmaster-crowding around it.

“Ah! Now that everyone is here, we may begin!” Monokuma clapped.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Toko hissed.

“Where, will the trial be held?” Stammered Taka, his face drained.

“Good question Mr. Ishimaru!” Monokuma waddled back and tapped his paw to the paw of the bear statue, and the massive figure of strength, changed. Plates altered, moving piece by piece apart, opening into an elevator.

“Come on in, students! The water's fine!” and Monokuma was gone.

Celeste was the first to walk in. She stood in the elevator for a bit, staring expectantly at her classmates. “Well?” No one moved. “Monokuma said the water's fine. All we have to do is catch a shark.”

 

Makoto hated this. He didn’t know what was dropping faster, his heart or the elevator. Makoto’s eyes dashed between faces. Kyoko Kirigiri, Celestia Ludenberg, Sayaka Maizono, Yasuhiro Hagakure, Toko Fukawa, Aoi Asahina, Byakuya Togami, Chihiro Fujisaki, Hifumi Yamada, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Mondo Owada, or Sakura Oogami. One of them killed Leon Kuwata. One of them was Blackened. One of them was the reason they were in this elevator. One of them was the reason two people were dead. One of them, one of them, one of them, one of them, one of them, one of them, one of them, one of them-

“You okay?” Kirigiri’s gloved hand is on his shoulder. Her face showing a quizzical expression.

“I, I mean, No, just” Makoto exhaled. “One of us actually did,  _ this _ . You know?”

“Not really. Of course one of the students did this.” Kirigiri was still calm. She was still composed. Did she not care?

“How can you be so indifferent to this? Leon and Junko are, they’re, they’re dead.”

Kirigiri didn’t say anything, she just stepped away, looking forward, as the elevator stopped moving. The metal door opened and emptied out into a courtroom of sorts. It was a dark brown, wood lined room with 16 stations in a circle, each one labeled with a picture of a respective student, and a small tablet equipped with 16 buttons. In the middle of these stations was a table, with all the evidence they’d collected and the Monokuma file lined up evenly. In two of the stations, were large images on rods, with a picture of Junko and Leon, happy and smiling, with a large, pink, X over their faces. And, sitting on high above all the rest, was a red and gold lined throne for Monokuma himself.

“Welcome! Welcome! Come, find your place!” it rang out. Makoto stumbled towards station #1 marked with a picture of him he doesn’t remember being taken. “Let me explain the rules!” Monokuma clapped happily looking down at the peasants. “So, your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out "whodunnit" then only they will receive punishment.” Monokuma’s eye glowed happily. “But if you pick the wrong one... then I'll punish everyone  _ besides _ the blackened, and the one that deceived everyone else will graduate!”

“It’s only fair that one of us just admit!” Kiyotaka said, his arms crossed.

“Are you serious?!” Toko yelled. “Who the hell would admit to that? The bear just said that if you are found guilty you die!”

“Before we begin.” Kirigiri said. “What’s going on with those pictures?” She gestured to Junko and Leon’s visages.

“It’d be a shame if Mr. Kuwata and Miss Enoshima missed out on the fun! So they’ll be cheering us on in spirit!” Monokuma pumped his small arms in the air miming a cheerleader.

“Ok, but what about the sixteenth seat?” Celeste asked. “There are only 15 students here. Why add the other one?”

“Aesthetic!”

“While I respect that, that can’t be it.”

“Oh, no reason. It's just that out little courtroom here can  _ technically _ fit up to sixteen people.” Monokuma whirred. “Now! Let us officially begin the first class trial!” Monokuma’s voice filled the room, it’s volume jumping. “ **_ALL RISE!”_ **

 

“So, Leon was murdered, inside the Dining Hall, yesterday.” Byakuya stated.

“And the murder weapon was a knife…” Chihiro aimed a finger at the kitchen knife coated in blood. “So someone must’ve taken it from the Dining Hall, right?”

“I can back up that statement.” Celeste spoke. “When Kirigiri and I were investigating the Dining Hall, I noticed that the rack of knives was missing one.”

“But, how did the knife disappear?” Sakura asked. “Someone must have gone to get it, so when?”

“Sakura has a point.” Hina said. “After we got back from the motive videos, we all went straight to the Dining Hall. And someone would have noticed someone carrying a knife…”

“We were all there!” Hagakure said. “It must’ve been later! The Nighttime announcement didn’t come on til later! There’s a window!”

“Congratulations! You came to a basic conclusion! Would you like a gold star?” Celeste clapped her hands together. “Wanna get a prize out of the toy chest and get some candy?”

“Anyway,” Kirigiri said. “We need alibis from everyone. If I remember correctly, we all went to our dorm rooms shortly afterwards. Is that correct?” Nods. “Did anyone stagger?”

Hifumi’s hand shot up. “I went to the bathhouse!”

“I went to Sakura’s room.” Hina said. “I don’t know if that counts,”

“Is that all? Everyone else went to sleep?” No more hands went up.

“So we know the murder weapon…” Makoto said. “But Kirigiri, what were you saying before the announcement went on? In the trash room?”

“Huh?” Kirigiri was staring at the evidence. “Ah, yes. When investigating the trash room, I discovered that knife, and a lint roller, both with traces of blood on them.” Kirigiri pointed to the two implements. “I suspect that when Leon was attacked, he fought back.”

“But obviously Leon lost!” Toko yelled. “It must have been a surprise attack!”

“But how could someone sneak on Leon in the dining hall?” Hina inquired. “Those floors squeak the second you step on them.”

“So someone killed him in the Dining Hall, right??” Hifumi said. “But how did they even do it? The Dining Hall closes after 10 PM!”

“He’s correct!” Taka shouted. “There’s no way Leon, or the Murderer could’ve made it into the Dining Hall!”

“The Monokuma file even explicitly states that Leon died past that time. 1:36 AM. to be specific.”

“Then, maybe Leon wasn’t completely dead?” Makoto inquired. “Kirigiri, you said he fought back, right?”

“Correct. I believe that he used that lint roller to fight against his attacker.”

“Assuming that, we need to deduce how he could’ve gotten a lint roller into the Dining Hall.”

“Every dorm has a lint roller, right?” Mondo inquired. “He must’ve had one from there.”

“But when did he have time?” Celeste said. “We’ve presented no window in which Leon’s death could have taken place.”

“Unless,” Kirigiri started. “Leon wasn’t killed in the Dining Hall.”

“Oooh! A twist!” Monokuma cheered.

“What the fuck do you mean, ‘didn’t die in the Dining Hall’?!” Toko shouted. “What gave you that weird idea?”

“It’s only logical.” Celeste said. “How else could he have gotten his hands on a Lint Roller?”

“But how did the killer even get into Leon into a room?” Byakuya asked.

“It would not have been hard to get Leon to follow you into your room. With tensions high and people fearing for their lives, you’d figure being in numbers would be more secure.” Celeste shot back.

“But! The rules state that you can’t loan your E-Handbook to other people!” Chihiro cut in.

“You don’t an E-Handbook to get into a room. Leon could’ve just followed them in.” Makoto responded.

“Allow me to rephrase the question from earlier.” Celeste said. “Did anyone  _ see _ Leon Kuwata before his death?”

The courtroom erupted into denial. Most people said they went straight to their room, Toko tried to argue that he was dead the second she went to sleep.

“I-” Makoto started, his eyes widening. “I did.” Makoto looked through the courtroom, searching for a blue haired girl. “Sayaka, I saw him with  _ you _ .”

“Huh?” Sayaka said, her arm clinging to her wrist. “What, do you, uh, what-what do you mean-Makoto?”

“Before we all went to bed last night. I saw you with Leon. You were talking.”

“I don’t-I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” She shouted.

“You aren’t lowering our suspicion of you.” Kirigiri stated, her eyes lowering to Sayaka’s wrist. “What happened there?”

“Huh?” Sayaka stared. “This? I, I just tripped.” Kirigiri sneered.

“You’ve been gripping that injury all day. It’s no way you could’ve gotten that from tripping.”

“Maybe a Lint Roller could’ve done that kinda damage.” Celeste said. “Especially a Lint Roller hitten with the force of the Ultimate Baseball Star, don’t you agree?”

“ALRIGHTY!” Monokuma cheered. “I suppose the main debates portion of the Class Trial is over!” Monokuma aimed a paw at the button set below them. “Alright everyone! Make sure you vote! If you don’t you’ll be punished along with the blackened!”

Makoto stared down at the tablet below him. And his hand pressed the button marked  **6** . Votes flooded in as Monokuma clapped.

“And the Blackened is…!!!” Monokuma waddled with excitement, as screens descended and played a tape of a roulette wheel deciding on, “Sayaka Maizono!” Monokuma’s eye gleamed with excitement. “WOWIE! 100% RIGHT!”

“What?! No!” Sayaka shouted. “I-I just, you can’t do this!” 

“Sayaka?” Makoto said incredulously. “Sayaka did it?”

“No! I didn’t!”

“Ding Dong That’s WRONG!!” Monokuma cheered. “I have it right here on tape!!! Your crimes were always visible to me, Miss Maizono!”

“B-but! I just needed to leave-Why didn’t you let us leave? He told me he would help!”

“Sorry! Murder is murder Miss Maizono! Jeez, ain’t this ironic!” Monokuma laughed, a horrible, mechanical laugh. “Anyway! I’ve prepared a very special punishment for Sayaka Maizono, The Ultimate Pop Idol!”

“NO! NONONONONO!!”

“LET’S GIVE IT EVERYTHING WE’VE GOT! ITTTTTT’S PUNISHMENT TIME!!!” A red button appeared next to Monokuma, as he brought down a toy Gavel, and the screens above them changed. It showed a small, sprite version of Sayaka, being dragged away by Monokuma. The words:

 

**CONGRATULATIONS!**

****  
**SAYAKA MAIZONO HAS BEEN VOTED GUILTY** **  
** **TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!**

 

appeared, and Sayaka panicked. Her eyes darted from person to person, and sa her mouth opened to speak, she was interrupted by a metal chain grabbing by her the neck and dragging her down a hallway Makoto swore wasn’t there a second ago. The door to the hallway shut behind her as the screen changed to read:

 

**SHOCKING!**

**Sayaka Maizono’s Closing Number!**

 

As the chain released her, Sayaka found herself on a stage. A bright pink stage with stage lights blaring in her eyes. On the walls, a meter calls for her voice to keep her alive, as a massive bear trap captures the stage in it’s maw. Sayaka reaches down, snapping up a microphone and singing as her life depended on it. The bar raised steadily, Sayaka’s beautiful voice filling the air with a melodious anxiety. She was so close. She was so close to escaping this execution. Seemingly, Monokuma thought so too, as the small figure of the bear quickly dug itself into the device, as large, razor sharp curtains closed on Sayaka Maizono’s final performance.

 

“EXHILARATING!” Monokuma yelled. “Absolutely GLORIOUS!” His paws clapped faster then Makoto could see, as Makoto couldn’t see, his eyes were shut the second Sayaka disappeared through that door. “Nothing like a good Punishment in the morning!”

“HOW CAN YOU BE SO HAPPY?” Toko yelled. “She’s DEAD!”

“I know right? It’s great!” the bear’s smile grew. “I just wish she could’ve taken someone else on the way out…”

“If you want us to die so badly, why don’t you just take us all out right now?!” Mondo shouted.

“Awww, but that’s not as much fun! This way, it’s a fun game with the whole class!” Monokuma hopped down from his throne to join the students. “Anywho! This Class Trial is now adjourned! Everyone, please return to the elevator!” The metal doors opened, and the bear began ushering the now 12 students into the elevator.

Makoto was lost. Makoto was confused. Makoto was tired, and he was scared. Three people, over the span of a day, gone.

“That was...something.” Kirigiri said. “How do you think Monokuma got that elaborate of an execution?”

“You can drop the act, Kirigiri. I know you’re as freaked out as all of us.”

Kirigiri balled her hands into fists. “Thank you, but how did you know?”

“Easy.” 

  
  


“I’m psychic.”


	4. Prom or Hell?-DAILY LIFE

Makoto didn’t sleep. He didn’t dare to. One day, it took one day for 3 people to die. One day. Makoto didn’t move until the alert told him it was morning. 7 AM, Makoto stepped out of his room to find Byakuya Togami waiting for him.  
  
     “Good. You’re awake. Took you long enough.” Makoto figured this would be easier if he didn’t talk.

     “It’s my job to tell you we won’t be meeting in the Dining Hall today. Because of, you know.”

     “Ah.” Makoto sighed. “That makes sense.”

     “I’m not done yet.” Byakuya scoffed. “The second floor of the academy has opened up.”

     “The second floor?”

     “Apparently the conclusion of the first class trial opened it. I’m going there now.” Byakuya started off, quickly tripping over untied shoelaces, and trying and failing to maintain his composure. Makoto followed behind, to a staircase he swore wasn’t there two days ago. Makoto took the stairs two at a time, desperate for the floor above to hold escape or answers.

     “You’re here. Finally.” Celeste said upon his arrival. “What were you, comatose? At least you’re finally here.” She twirled a strand of her hair with her metallic finger. “Come, I’ll give you the tour.” And she was off. She walked to a pair of pink double doors, opening it to reveal an Olympic size swimming pool.

     “MAKOTO!” Hina yelled upon his entrance. “Guess what! We got a POOL!” She was the Ultimate Swimmer. No wonder she’d be enthralled by a pool. “Plus! There are tons of exercise equipment in these locker rooms! Sakura’s gonna go NUTS when she finds out!” Hina wildly gestured to the pair of pink and blue locker room doors. Seemingly hiding behind Hina was Chihiro, her position compromised by Hina’s constant moving.  
“

     Hey, Chihiro, have you checked out the pool yet?” Celeste asked, gesturing to the entire room. “It’s kind of hard to miss.”

     “No, I, I don’t like swimsuits.” Chihiro managed, her hands clamped together. “But I might try the exercise equipment...I’d like to try and get stronger.”

     “Stronger? I didn’t expect you to be into that sort of thing.

     “Haha...I’m really not, is the thing...But I want to try to be!”

     “Sakura and I could help you!” Hina smiled.

     “N-no!” Chihiro shot back. “I mean, not that I don’t want to work out with you, but I just, it wouldn’t work out.”

     “Well, I’m gonna investigate!” Hina said, walking to the pink locker room. “Huh? There’s no, doorknob?”

     “Eeeeeeeeeexactly!” Shouted Monokuma, posing on top of a shelf of pool equipment.

     “JESUS CHRIST” Makoto shouted, gripping his chest. 

     “Sheesh, don’t be so dramatic!” Monokuma chided. “You just need to use your E-Handbook! This way no boys will go into the girl's room, and vice versa! It’s a fool-proof system!”

     “I suppose that makes sense, but someone already found that loophole,” Celeste said.

     “But that someone is dead!” Monokuma shot back.

     “Fair enough.” She responded. “Come Makoto, we need to move on.” And with that, he was being whisked out the door. Celeste was on a mission, glancing at doors, walking in a straight line with such efficiency that Makoto could barely keep up. “There are the public restrooms,” Celeste said, gesturing to a pair of lime green doors. Celeste continued weaving through the hallways, before stopping at a pair of pink double doors. “This is the infirmary.”Inside was Kirigiri, flippantly combing through medical tools, Hifumi, groaning on a cot, and Toko, looking for tissues.

     “Miss Ludenbergggg” HIfumi slurred. “I’m sickkkk”

     “I know a great medicine!”

     “You do?”

     “Yup! It’s called arsenic! I heard you have to down a whole bottle though!” Celeste clapped her hands, and Hifumi whimpered away. “Make me tea.”

     “Sure Miss Ludenberg…” Hifumi whined, stumbling out of the room.

     “Why do you entertain him?” Kirigiri stated, her eyes not moving from the counter.

     “Why not? Every noble need a dedicated servant.” Celeste placed her hands under her chin and gave a porcelain smile. “Anyway, did you find anything useful?”

     “NO! I HAVEN’T!” Toko yelled. “Everything here is stupid! Stupid medicine for stupid DISEASES!”

     “Horrible, I know right?” Celeste sneered. 

     “Shut, shut up.” Toko groaned. “I’m going to the Library.” 

     “Why there?” Makoto asked as she walked past him.

     Toko snorted her nose. “I’m an a-the-the ultimate romance novelist, right? I can read if I want to!”

     “What are you going to read?” Kirigiri asked. 

     “I saw some case files there. I wanted, to read the ones on Genocider Syo.”

     “Genocider Syo? The serial killer?” Kirigiri asked, turning away from the shelf, her interest piqued.

     “Yeah.” Toko didn’t say anything else as she dashed out of the room.

     “Interesting.” Celeste thought for a moment. “Anyway, what are you looking for?”

     “Lotion.”

     “Eh?” Makoto said. “Why-that?”

     “I wear gloves for a reason.” She stated, grabbing a bottle from the shelf. “I’ll be in my dorm.” and Kyoko Kirigiri rounded the corner.

     “And she remains a mystery.” Celeste sighed.

     “It doesn’t really matter. She helped us.” Makoto offered back.

     “This time.”

     “This time?”

     “She helped us this time.” Celeste looked away, a hand covering her mouth, obviously not smiling. “Who’s to say Miss Mystery Talent here won’t change her mind and turn on us at any time?”

     “Kirigiri wouldn’t do that.” Makoto affirmed. “She did the most work out of all of us. Why would she undo that just to turn on us?”

     “Makoto, poor, stupid, naive Makoto.” Celeste said, her accented voice causing her words to slip off her tongue. “She doesn’t even remember her own talent.”

     “She-what?” Makoto asked, his face scrunching in confusion.

     “Earlier today, I asked Kirigiri what her talent was. ‘If you keep calling me Gambler, I’d like to have something to call you’.” Celeste sighed as the sides of her face tinting pink. “She said she didn’t remember her talent. And Kirigiri was fine.” Celeste grabbed her sleeve. “She’s hiding something, I know it.”

     “Don’t jump to conclusions.” Makoto said, eyeing her warily. 

     “What’s with that look?” Celeste grinned sadly. “What? Think I’m going to kill you?” Makoto backed up. “Why, I’d never do that right? I helped you didn’t I?” Celeste’s eyes widened as her face sank. “Didn’t I?” Makoto didn’t respond. Celeste just stared him. “Whatever. I’ll be in the dining hall, maybe Hifumi has my tea.” and Celeste was gone. Makoto bit his lip. Deciding that learning about Serial Killers would be more interesting then continue, whatever that was with Celeste, Makoto headed to the Library.

     Inside was Toko, several files open around her, their papers scattered around her, it looked like a tornado had swept past her for the sake of spite.

     “What are you doing here?” Toko spat.

     “Reading sounded better than arguing with Celeste.” Toko glared at him as Makoto sat down and picked up a piece of paper.

     “How would this be more pleasant? We’re looking at murder cases. Serial Murder cases, Naegi.”

     “Still.” Makoto sighed. “I never imagined you would like this stuff.”

     “I don’t like it.” Toko hissed. “It’s disgusting, I can barely look at blood without passing out, let alone read murder cases!”

     “But-”

     “I don’t care.” Toko grabbed a file and began to tear it down the middle. “I don’t care about her.” and Toko dashed away, leaving Makoto confused.

 

     The Dining Hall was pristine when Makoto found it. Leon’s body nowhere to be seen, and all the blood removed. He found Chihiro, Kirigiri, and Celeste, as Hifumi hurriedly rushed out the kitchen door.

     “Here you go Miss Ludenberg!” He grinned. Handing her a small cup.  
  
     “Thank you Hifumi,” Celeste responded, taking a sip of the beverage before turning to Hifumi. “Hifumi?”  
  
     “Uh-uh-huh?” He stammered, staring lower than Celeste’s eyes.

     “Remind me what I requested I get for you?” Celeste gave a thorny smile.

     “M-milk tea?” Hifumi said, his fingers touching together.

     “And what did you get me?” Celeste said, gesturing to the cup.

     “...Milk tea?” No sooner than seconds after Hifumi had spoken was the teacup crashing against the wall and Celeste was on the move.

     “ _ **EARL GREY HIFUMI!**_ ” She shouted her accent nowhere to be seen. “ _ **YOU GOT ME FUCKING EARL GREY! HOW AUDACIOUSLY STUPID DOES SOMEONE HAVE TO BE TO GET ME FUCKING EARL GREY? OH WAIT! I KNOW! SOMEONE COULD BE HIFUMI YAMADA, WHO IS SUCH A FUCKING FAILURE OF A HUMAN BEING THAT HE CAN’T EVEN BOTHER TO REMEMBER THE NAME OF A GODDAMN TEA! NOW GO MAKE ME ANOTHER ONE, PIG, OR ELSE I WILL PERSONALLY BURN ALL THE FUCKING MANGA YOU BROUGHT HERE, AND ENJOY MIXING THE MOLTEN ASHES INTO YOUR BREAKFAST THE VERY NEXT DAY!**_ ” Hifumi, quite literally shaking in his boots, sprinted to the kitchen for his very life, as Celeste exhaled and happily returned to her original composure. “So how are you all doing today? Chihiro? Kirigiri?”

     “What...was that?” Chihiro stated, her furious typing cutting off.

     “What was what, Chihiro?” Celeste said, her perfectly painted nails rapping on the table with extreme speed.

     “Nothing,” Chihiro said. Her eyes returning to the screen of a lime green laptop.

     “What are you typing?” Makoto asked, sitting down next to her.

     “Code.” She stated simply, as Hifumi returned with tea. Judging by Celeste’s reaction, the correct kind this time.

     “For what?” Kirigiri asked, seemingly getting tired of the back and forth. Celeste, however, was very happy to use Hifumi as a footrest.

     “So, I heard Byakuya talking earlier,” Chihiro said. “He kept talking about some ‘Mastermind’.” Kirigiri’s hand went to her chin, as Makoto’s eyes widened. “He figured there had to be someone behind all this. And that he was going to find out who. He said that a while ago, I don’t know if he’s given up or not…”

     “But what does this have to do with your programming?” Kirigiri inquired.

     “I...I found this computer in the library before we knew why we were here. I started looking through it but found nothing usable. So I’m working on a program to do the hacking for me since I can’t.”

     “That’s genius!” Makoto exclaimed. 

     “It’s not done is what it is.” Chihiro huffed. “It won’t be of any use until it’s finished.”

     “Alright. Please don’t overwork yourself.” Makoto said, giving a small smile.

     “I’ll try, but I went to get it online as fast as possible.” Chihiro just kept typing, as Byakuya stepped inside the room.

     “Attention fellow students.” He said. “As you may know, I have recently deduced that there is a mastermind within the school.”

     “Wow! What a shocking development! There’s someone behind this game and controlling Monokuma? How exciting!” Celeste deadpanned. “Do tell me more, Mr. Togami! Wow, you’re so smart and handsome!”

     “ANYWAY,” Byakuya huffed. “I have decided that I will go after the mastermind by myself.”

     “Are you trying to get killed?” Kirigiri stated, glaring at him.

     “No, because I won’t lose.” Byakuya gave a cocky grin. “Don’t worry students, at nighttime, this killing game will be done with.” and he vanished out the door.

     “Why did that garbage fire of a human just walk past me looking like he won an award? Dumbass can’t even get dressed. His shirt is on backward.” Toko said as she walked through the door, sniffing. 

     “Sick, Toko?” Makoto asked. Toko groaned.

     “I am not sick. I don’t get sick.” Toko’s eyes squinted, and she retreated out the door.

     “What’s her problem?” Chihiro asked, her eyes still unmoving from the screen.

     “Wasn’t she looking at the Genocider cases?” Kirigiri asked.

     “Yeah, do you know about them? She wouldn’t let me read any.” Makoto said.

     “Genocider Syo is a currently active serial killer. Genocider has a very specific way of killing, especially made razor sharp scissors stabbed into the wrists, ankles, and heart of their victims.” Kirigiri recited.

     “H-how did you, know all that?” Chihiro asked, finally broken out of her typing stupor.

     “I must’ve read it somewhere.” Kirigiri shrugged her shoulders.

     “Okay,” Makoto said. “But, what is Byakuya planning to do?”

     “Something stupid.” Celeste sneered. “The mastermind has the most control over our current situation. Trying to fight back is futile. All we have to do is sit back, ignore Monokuma, and try to live here as best as we can.” Celeste smiled in the face of Kirigiri’s glare, as the alert signaling nighttime rang through the hall. The group quickly dissolved after that, and Makoto soon retreated to his dorm, tired.

  
His dreams weren’t kind to him that night.

_“COME ONE! COME ALL!” Her voice sang to the cheerily awaiting masses. “I know you all have been waiting, and I am so very grateful for your patience, and your promised time has finally come!” She danced around the stage, the microphone cord flying around her. “Now tell me, ARE YOU READY?! READY TO LEAVE THIS PITIFUL WORLD BEHIND?!” She knew what she meant. She knew what she meant, why wasn’t she trying to stop her? “Those stupid bastards don’t know a single thing about you! Are you going to let them stomp all over your dreams?!” The crowd before her erupted in applause and laughter, fists pumping into the sky. “THAT IS WHAT I LIKE TO HEAR!” She cheered, her voice dancing around the stage. “Gosh, I can really feel your adoration…!” She sang though she knew she was lying. “I guess I’m kinda like a queen to you all, huh?” She placed a hand under her chin, trying to make herself seem all innocent. Did she seriously not care? Did she not care about what she’d done? How dare she pretend it didn’t happen. “But enough waiting around! LET’S GET TO THE MAIN EVENT, SHALL WE?”_

And Makoto woke up.

The dining hall was full, for once. 12 students ate food and held conversations, like an almost normal class. Celeste and Kirigiri talked behind poisoned masks, Chihiro coded as Hagakure threw confused questions at her that fell on deaf ears. Toko gulped down food that was disproportionate to her body, Byakuya was pacing around corners, as far away from her as possible. Mondo and Taka talked and argued over salads, as Hifumi is very careful to give tea to Celeste. Hina leaned on Sakura’s arm in exhaustion, finding comfort in both her and a large cup of coffee. Makoto simply sat himself down and grabbed food from the middle of the table.

     “Ah, it seems you’ve awakened.” Celeste threw a disinterested gaze over the table. “Welcome back to the world of the living.”

     “Don’t be so dramatic.” Kirigiri huffed. “We aren’t in some TV show.”

     Celeste fake-gasped. “Ms. Kirigiri! I am SHOCKED that you would accuse me of watching Television!”

     “That doesn’t seem to fit your aesthetic-”

     “Hifumi, darling, did I say you could talk?” Celeste smiled at Hifumi, cutting off his remark and waving him away.

     “Still working, Chihiro?” Makoto started in between bites of off-brand breakfast bars.

     Chihiro didn’t respond, she just nodded. Hagakure had given up on a conversation, and Chihiro was still furiously typing and clicking. Her eyes reflective of constantly growing neon green code.

     “Well, classmates! I’ve decided to take a small detour to the bathhouse!” Taka announced, standing upright and beginning to march away. “If anyone would like to join me in the sauna portion, feel free to join me!”

     “I’ll come,” Mondo stated. “‘Been meaning to check it out for a while.”

     “The more the merrier!” Taka said.

     “I’ll come, I guess.” Makoto offered, standing up and walking out with the pair. The Sauna was hot. And Makoto didn’t think this through. While Mondo left his tank top and pants on (he had to be uncomfortable in that, right?), Taka was perfectly fine to just leave it at boxers. God, he was going to die. Makoto wasn’t entirely comfortable going past a shirt and shorts, simply lounging in the corner, a fair distance away from Taka and Mondo. The latter of which was being cooked alive.

     “Mondo? You can disrobe, you know.” Taka offered, giving an uneasy smile.

     “This...ain’t...nothing…” Mondo huffed, his face flushed and his body tensed. “I could do this...all...day…”

     “Hmph!” Taka huffed. “I doubt that!”  
     

     “Is, that, a challenge?”

     “ABSOLUTELY!” And that was it. Makoto laughed as the two stared at each other in silence. Makoto opted to change and shuffle out once about 5 minutes had passed. Upon leaving the sauna, he saw one person in the locker room, Chihiro. The dainty hacker was typing on her computer, wedged between a set of lockers and the wall.

     “Chihiro?”

     “Hm.” Chihiro made a noise and didn’t break her chain of typing.

     “You alright?”

     “Mmhmm. Yup.” Chihiro clearly wasn’t listening.

     “Why are you coming here?” Makoto said, trying to get her to say something beyond vaguely affirming noises.  
Chihiro’s eyes and hands remained unmoving from their spot on the keyboard, but her head jerked to the left, specifically to the space a surveillance camera should have been.

     “Your coding in here because..there aren’t any cameras?” Chihiro rolled her eyes. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  
\--

Bing Bong Ding Dong!

     “Ahem! Attention students! This is a public announcement, please assemble in the gymnasium ASAP! Oh! And have a wonderful day!” Makoto groaned. He wanted to scream. Could he just, stay here? Could he just not go? That would work, right? No, Monokuma would probably pull some bullshit excuse out of it and he’d wind up dead. Makoto slumped his way to the gym, pushing the door open to 11 more students.

     “SHEESH! Took ya long enough!” Monokuma yelled, kicking his legs on top of the podium. “Now that you’re all here, we can begin!”

     “Why are we here this time?!” Hagakure yelled. “I wanna go home!”

     “It’s every day with you rubes, isn’t it? You need to shut up!” Monokuma chided. “ANYWAY! Let’s get to it!” Monokuma hopped to the floor. “I got something really special for all of you! Can you guess what it is? Can ya? Can ya can ya can yaaa?”

     The room was silent. No voices, no movement. “It’s, it’s a new motive, right?” Byakuya said, taking a step forward.

     “WOWIE! GOT IT IN ONE! You get a gold star, Mr. Togami!” Monokuma whirred in happiness. “Yes! Your generous headmaster has provided some dreadful secrets for your new motives!”

     “When will you just give it up?” Mondo groaned. “We won’t kill each other again.”

     “This again…” Monokuma whined. “Don’t you know what happened to the last person who said that, Mr. Owada?” Monokuma’s eye glistened with every word. “If I remember correctly, she isn’t doing too hot right now!” Mondo took a step back. “That’s what I thought.”

     “So where are they? The motives.” Celeste said, running a hand through her hair.

     “Patience, Ms. Ludenberg! You’re a gambler, right? I’d expect better from you.” Monokuma, from seemingly nowhere, pulled out decks of envelopes. “Come get ‘em, everyone!” Cautiously, one by one, each student came and picked a labeled envelope. Makoto picked open the flap, pulling a small piece of paper from the envelope.

**Makoto Naegi was a bedwetter until 8th grade.**

That wasn’t, that bad. What was Monokuma going on and on about? It’s not that big of a deal. But judging by the others, their envelopes shook them to their core. Chihiro was practically quaking, Toko had all but ripped her envelope in half, Sakura had already crumpled the paper, Celeste’s envelope was nowhere to be seen. But the pained expression on her usually emotionless face told a wildly different story.

     “Soooo? Everyone enjoying their secrets being revealed?” Monokuma cheered.

     “How did you know?!” Toko shouted, pushing past the other students. “HOW THE FUCK DID YOU KNOW?!” Monokuma put his paws to his mouth.

     “Aww, so sorry Ms. Fukawa! A true magician never reveals his tricks!” Toko stomped on the ground.

     “YOU SPONGY ILL BREEDING BITCH!” Toko screamed, her voice straining.

     “Toko.” Kirigiri hissed. Toko’s face fell, taking a step back.

     “Where’s your fire gone, Ms. Fukawa? Hmm? Too sad to stand up to Headmaster?” Toko walked back into the crowd, silent.

     “It’s a shame really, but I can already tell this will be an EXCITING few days!”

\---

Makoto woke up and he was already tired. The motive’s from yesterday were enough, but the prospect of the next days being “exciting” to Monokuma was hard enough. He quickly changed and began wandering out into the school. Maybe he should seek out someone. Hina or Sakura could work. Hina would probably be in the pool, and Sakura would be attached to her hip. So Makoto followed the stairs and turned left into the pool area. Maybe a shower would wake him up. The pool area had a few showers in the locker rooms, and it definitely wouldn’t hurt him. 

God, how naive he was.

Were they going to survive? Were they ever going to escape? Would the world accept them back into it? Would they ever live a normal life, if they managed to survive? How could they survive? Prom or Hell? That was the question. Would they escape and get the sanctuary they wanted? Or would they die, as small and easy as their lives were to snuff out, would they just die? Here, in the pool, strung up by his wrists, was the lifeless body of Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Heir.


	5. Prom or Hell?-DEADLY LIFE

He heard the door swing open and a scream behind him as the PA system flung to life. “WUH-OH! A BODY has been discovered!” Sang the gleeful voice of Monokuma, seeming to point and laugh at Byakuya’s hanging corpse. “At this time, the investigation period has begun! All students will have three hours to investigate and find out who killed Byakuya Togami!” The PA system clicked off as the sound of boots and heels clamored upstairs.

“How did this happen?” Hina’s voice worried. “What-when-who did this?”

“That’s just what happens when you try to outsmart the killing game.” Celeste’s voice sneered.

“Can you have any sympathy?” Kirigiri’s voice responded, the spite practically dripping off of her voice.

“WUZZAT?” Said a voice. A voice that sounded like Toko. Makoto looked behind him to see Toko(?) skipping up to Byakuya’s corpse. “Woahhhhhhh!!! Hey!! Are you dead???” Toko yelled, her tongue sticking in confusion, her glasses nowhere to be seen. She poked and prodded at Byakuya’s face, seemingly unaware that Byakuya’s corpse did not have agency.

“...Toko?” Kiyotaka wondered aloud.

“HUH?!” Toko wondered, whirling around and glaring at Taka, before she promptly sneezed, and passed out.

“...Anyway.” Kirigiri said. “Makoto, were you the first to find him?”

“Yes. I came across him a few minutes ago.” Makoto said. Not daring himself to move.

“Hellooo dear students!” Came the familiar whirring of despair as Monokuma waddled through the doors. “Great job on the murder, by the way, I couldn’t have done it better myself!” No one said anything. Monokuma made a whining sound. “Anywho! Here ya are!” Monokuma waddled his way to Kirigiri, handing her another Monokuma File.

“Thank you.” Kirigiri spat, opening the file in her hands and reading it aloud. “Time of Death: 12:35.” Kirigiri squinted. “Height: 5’7”. Weight: 150 lbs. Chest Size: 81 cm. Blood Type: B.” Kirigiri’s eyes widened. “Murder Weapon: Door.”

“ _What?_ ” Celeste shot back.

“What about it?” Kirigiri said, as casually as someone perusing a supermarket. “It’s amazing what you can kill someone with.”

Celeste gave a lopsided frown but didn’t object any further.

Makoto looked at Kirigiri, clearly beginning her investigation. The trenchcoat-wearing girl was turning over any part of Byakuya’s body she could get to, undoing the ropes tying Byakuya to the wall. Kirigiri gasped as she looked at his head.

“The victim most likely was killed by blunt force trauma to the back of the head.” She calmly stated, turning to her class.

“But with a _door_?” Celeste responded. “Don’t you think Monokuma could be feeding us false information?

“While that definitely wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility, considering Monokuma’s character,” Kirigiri spoke. “But he’s too attached to the rules. It’d be strange for him to tamper with evidence.” Celeste scoffed.

“But how was he killed with a door?” Sakura asked, examining Toko’s unconscious body.

“I guess we’ll have to find out,” Kirigiri spoke. “But we should comb the whole second floor for any evidence. Celeste and I will continue our investigation here, Makoto, take Hina and Taka and search around the hallways. Everyone else should pair up and choose a room.” Kirigiri ordered, and they did just that. From behind Taka, Makoto could see everyone’s frantic searching, their longing to survive. It made his head hurt.

“What’s that?” Hina said, jabbing a finger towards the men's bathroom. Cleaning fluid had dried on the floor, and the door was partially open. Makoto stepped forward and pushed open the door to find the place ransacked. The supply closet at the back’s contents now littered the floor.

“What happened here?” Taka stuttered, talking a few steps into the room.

“Is this...where it happened?” Hina offered.

“But Byakuya’s corpse was in the Pool,” Taka stated.

“We all know first hand how bodies can be moved,” Makoto said. “Maybe the killer just moved him?”

“But why would he be in the Bathroom at night?” Hina responded. “Didn’t he say he was going to defeat the mastermind?”

“Who knows. Byakuya was pretty weird.” Makoto responded. Hina winced at the past tense of his words.

“Anyway, I guess that takes this off our list,” Hina stated. “Let’s head back to Kirigiri.” The trio returned to the pool to find Celeste holding a stack of files, and Kirigiri comparing pictures to Byakuya’s limp body.

“What are you doing?” Hina asked, her head tilted in confusion.

“Oh, nothing! Kirigiri’s gone crazy, that’s all.” Celeste stated through a fake smile.

“At least I don’t have hair drills attached to my head at all times,” Kirigiri responded, turning to look at her.

“Sorry, Kyoko ‘Trenchcoats are practical for everyday use.’ Kirigiri.” Celeste responded, rolling her eyes.

“Trenchcoats are the optimal form of clothing. At least I don’t wear skirts that need a metal frame to keep its shape.”

“True, but I don’t carry a magnifying glass with me everywhere.”

“At least I don-”

“OHMYGOD SHUT UP!” Hina shouted at the bickering pair. “WE HAVE A **MURDER CASE** TO SOLVE AND I REALLY DON’T WANNA WATCH YOU ARGUE OVER WHO HAS THE BIGGEST EGO RIGHT NOW!” Neither girl apologized, but Kirigiri cleared her voice and continued.

“I’m comparing the pictures of Genocider Syo’s corpse to Byakuya’s corpse,” Kirigiri said, motioning for Celeste to give her another picture. “They’re in the exact same pose, even “Bloodlust” is written on the wall next to him.”

“Are you implying that Genocider Syo did it? What’s next? Is the boogie man gonna come crawling out from under my bed if I won't be a good girl?”

“We can’t rule out the possibility,” Kirigiri said. “We have virtually no clues that hint to the identity of the killer.”

“Actually,” Makoto said. “The boy's bathroom has been thoroughly cleaned and messed up.”

“Really?” Celeste said. “But Byakuya was found here, right? Why would the bathroom be damaged?”

“We don’t know,” Hina said. “But we’re almost out of time now, right?”

“Correct,” Celeste said. “We don’t have enough evidence, do we?”

“No. I’m going to see the bathroom.” Kirigiri dashed out of the room as a lilac blur.

“Well, she’s gone.” Celeste cleared her throat. “ **_HIFUMI!”_ ** The otaku in question came trodding in the room and stood in attention in front of Celeste.

“Yes, Miss Ludenberg?” He said.

“Carry these for me.” Celeste dumped the pictures into his hands and walked past him, presumably to investigate with Kirigiri.

“God, what’s up with her?” Hina asked. “She’s so full of herself.”

Makoto gripped his sleeve, remembering Celeste’s frantic speech about Kirigiri. “I think she’s as scared as the rest of us.”

“How? All she does is push around Hifumi, call us stupid, and hang around Kirigiri!” Hina groaned. “I wouldn’t be surprised if _she_ killed Byakuya.”

“Hina! Don’t talk like that.”

“Still. Celeste’s got it out for someone, I’m sure of it.” Hina said.

“But, don’t accuse her or anything. I’m sure she’s on our side.

“But you don’t know what her motive was, Makoto! What if it was something so secret, she’d kill over it?! We know someone killed over it.”

Makoto didn’t respond, as before he could get any words out, the familiar sing-song tone of despair rang through the room.

 

_DING DONG BING BONG!_

 

“Attention students of Hope’s Peak Academy! Could you please report to the entrance hall for our second Class Trial! Thank you!” Monokuma’s voice flickered out as Makoto heard the sound of shoes on linoleum as the rest of the class ventured downstairs to the entrance hall.

“Come on.” Hina motioned, trotting out of the room and attaching herself to Sakura, who was walking down the stairs. Makoto squinted down the hallway, his legs carrying him to the massive bear statue in the entrance hall.

“Ah yes, there we all are!” Monokuma cheered. “Everyone ready for one more exciting class trial?”

“Let’s just get it over with,” Chihiro said as they all filed into the golden elevator.

“All aboard! Alllll aboarrrdddd!” Monokuma sang, waddling into the elevator and promptly disappearing. Makoto tensed his body and followed suit, walking into the elevator as his stomach turned. The golden plates closed behind him and the Elevator began to plummet.

“What-gross,” Toko stated, her consciousness regained. “This is stupid and I hate it.”

“You feeling coherent again?” Sakura asked Toko groaned in response.

“Not at all” Toko hissed, as the elevator stopped and the doors opened in front of them.

“Welcome, Welcome, Welcome Students!!!” Monokuma cheered. “Welcome to another class trial!” Makoto eyed the room, the same as the last time, but with the addition of Byakuya and Sayaka’s portraits. “As you fill your seats, allow me to explain the rules once more!” Monokuma whirred with delight. “You will use the evidence you gained throughout your investigation to name the Blackened! If you guess right, the blackened is punished, but if you guess wrong, all but the blackened is punished!”

Monokuma sat up and waved his paws in the air as his eye glistened with excitement. “Will you pick the right choice? Or the terrible wrong one? Let’s being this class trial! **_ALL RISE!_ **”

Kirigiri spoke first. “Let’s begin by restating what we already know.”

“Byakuya died fairly early last night, about 2 hours after nighttime,” Sakura stated. “And he was killed with...a door.”

“But, how could someone do that? You know, the thing with the door.” Chihiro asked.

“We don’t know, but the Monokuma File hasn't lied to us yet.” Makoto offered. “But for now, let’s run with the idea that someone killed Byakuya by hitting him in the head with it.”

“But how does the Boy’s bathroom factor into this?” Hina said. “The entire place was ransacked, but there's no way it fits into this whole thing.”

“Hold on, Hina,” Sakura said. “But shouldn’t we address Byakuya’s pose? How he was strung up like that?”

“Ah yes, just like the Genocider Syo cases.” Toko lurched forward as Kirigiri spoke.

“Ugh, Kirigiri won’t you drop it? Saying it was a mysterious Serial Killer won’t convince anyone.” Celeste groaned.

“I wouldn’t be so quick to cut her off, Celeste!” Makoto said. “Why else would those Genocider cases be in the library?”

“I don’t know, maybe someone likes that shit. Maybe it was supposed to give someone some hints towards murder?” Mondo yelled.

“It’s sad that that’s probably why they’re there…” Chihiro made a noise of discomfort.

“Still, why and how did the killer string Byakuya up?” Celeste said, running a clawed finger through her hair. “On top of getting a door to kill someone with, mind you.” She added.

“The bathroom was spotless aside from the whole big mess in there, right?” Mondo asked. “Could something have happened in there?”

“But there is absolutely no reason for Byakuya to have been out that late!” Hina said back. “I don’t know, the whole thing seems so impossible…”

“We have to keep going. Let’s try to piece together what we can.” Makoto offered. “So Byakuya went to the Boys Bathroom on the second floor late last night, for whatever reason,” He stopped. “Then is attacked by someone in the middle of the night.”

“From what I saw, the entire room had been scrubbed clean, and most of the closet’s contents had been thrown on the floor,” Kirigiri said.

“So during his fight with the attacker, he tried to defend himself with the closet’s equipment?” Makoto offered.

“There must have been a lot of blood, so the attacker tried to clean everything up?” Chihiro returned.

“It had to have been Genocider Syo!” Hagakure cut into the debate. “I have been stewing over this for the past hour or so and I am certain it’s him!”

“Ugh, and where is your proof? I see that you subscribe to Kirigiri’s crackpot theory as well.” Celeste said.

“Look at the body, it looks exactly like the ones in the file!”

“But how did a serial killer even get in the school? We’re all trapped in here with no way out.”

“I bet that bastard snuck in here somehow...or he’s behind it all! Yeah! I bet he’s controlling Monokuma!”

“ **_SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!!_ **” Toko screamed, panting as her body lay on her podium. “SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!” Her voice dripped at least 3 octaves lower than normal, her hands shaking and gripping at her braids. “Just, stop talking.” Toko huffed, her whole body taking deeper and deeper breaths. “You have no fucking idea, what you’re talking abo-” Toko cut herself off with a violent sneeze before her body slumped on the podium.

“...Toko?” Hina asked, staring at her motionless body. “You okay there?”

“Wuh-oh! What’s going with Miss Fukawa???” Monokuma cheered from his throne.

“Is she dead?” Taka whispered. “She’s not dead, right?”

“I don’t think so, it looks like she’s still breathing,” Kirigiri added.

“Maybe she yelled too loud and her brain finally short-circuited.”

Everyone yelped as Toko’s head shot up in attention.

“WHAT’s going on here????” She yelled, her body bolting up and looking from person to person. “Why do I wear this shit?” Toko said, tossing her glasses off somewhere in the trial room. “And UGH my hair! This shit’s just plain uncomfortable!” Her hands clawed at her braids, undoing them into long strands of greasy hair. She stared at her classmates with an impossibly wide grin on her face. “That’s MUCH better! KYEEEEHAHAHAHA!!!”

“What the fuck?” Mondo said.

“What the fuck yourself, Corn-Hair!” Toko shouted. “Seriously what the hell were you trying to pull off with that sad excuse of a pompadour???” She let out another cackle, gripping her sides.

“Toko? Is that you?” Chihiro worried, her hands clinging to her sweater.

“TOKO? Don’t make me laugh!!! How dare you compare me to that whiny bitch!”

“But if you aren’t Toko, then who are you?” Makoto asked, his face twisted in confusion.

“EASY! **I’M GENOCIDER SYO BITCHES!!! THE ULTIMATE MURDEROUS FIEND!!!** ” She struck a hilariously out of place pose. “Surprised, aren’t you? It’s not often someone can bask in my true glory!!”

“Wait, Toko, you’re Genocider Syo? That’s impossible!” Hifumi yelled.

“Ugh, shuddup you hamster-faced bastard!” Genocider Syo shouted back. “And stop comparing me to Miss Morose over there! Cuz I’m NOT her!”

“If you really are Genocider Syo, what is your whole situation with Toko, then?” Kirigiri asked.

“It’s most likely something close to Disassociative Identity Disorder,” Kirigiri said. “Toko has two personalities living inside her, activated by particular triggers.”

“DING DING DING!!!” Syo applauded. “Yup! That whiner is just the bonus deal you get for pre-ordering ALLLL THIS!” Syo gestured to herself and winked at Sakura.

“I don’t know if I should be flattered or extremely worried…” Sakura responded.

“Probably both,” Hina added with a lopsided smile.

“WAIT!” Hagakure yelled. “If Genocider Syo really is here, then she had to have been the murder!” The room stood silent for a second, only to be filled with the gleeful cackles of Genocider Syo.

“BOLD OF YOU TO ASSUME I WOULD BE SO FUCKIN’ SLOPPY IN A MURDER!” Genocider gave a frown to Hagakure. “Puh-lease! I am a famous and highly sought after Serial Killer! Why in the hell would I leave any gaps in my plan?!”

“I guess that makes sense, but why should I believe you! You’re the murderer here!”

“Most of the Genocider cases match up with Byakuya’s death, but that’s not to say there aren’t disparities between the two,” Kirigiri said.

“Disparities?” Taka asked. “H-how so?”

“For one thing, the way the victim was strung up was notably different.” She stated. “Not once has the victim been _tied_ somewhere.”

“Not one of Syo’s victims have been killed with a _door_ either,” Celeste said.

“A DOOR??? WHY THE FUCK WOULD I KILL SOMEONE WITH A DOOR??” Genocider yelled, her knuckles whitening as she gripped the podium. “A door is so unreliable it’s more insane than me!”

“Is that implying you’ve tried to kill someone with a door before?” Makoto asked.

“But why was Byakuya strung up like that if Syo didn’t do it? I still think you did it!” Hifumi yelled.

“EASY!” Genocider twirled and her hands went to her waist, fingering belts and buckles on her belt. “Because I only kill people with THESE BABIES!!!” Syo flicked her hands as two pairs of silver scissors twirled onto her fingers. “Killing with anything else would be simply ASININE!! And I stab my victims to walls! With SCISSORS!”

“Where were you hiding those?” Hina whispered.

“What, are you going to lecture me about the dangers of sewing belt loops onto your underwear???” Syo groaned. “Try something more original, I’ve heard it a million times.”

“I’d say we can rule Syo out of our list of suspects…” Celeste offered.

“I’m still not convinced!” Hagakure yelled. “You’re a serial killer, there's no way you wouldn’t take an opportunity to kill in here!”

“HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TEACH YOU THIS LESSON, OLD MAN?” Syo shouted. “I DIDN’T KILL TOG-ASSHAT OVER THERE!” Syo shouted and launched a scissor at the framed photo of Byakuya, the implement piercing the photo and the frame. “Besides, I only kill GROSS people! Sure, Byakuya would be high on that list, but Hifumi over here is leagues above him on my shitlist!”

“...Go on…” Hifumi blushed.

“Do you even think before you speak?” Celeste chided, jabbing a finger in Hifumi’s direction.

“Take a look at all my victims! I only kill gross old men! Abusers! Pedophiles! Rapists! Only icky people meet the business end of my GLORIOUS scissors!”

“Really? I read somewhere that you kill people you loved…” Hina rambled.

“EWWWW!!! That’s the worst thing you’ve ever said!!!” Syo stuck her tongue out and shielding her eyes. “Plus, I like girls!”

“I think we’ve established that she didn’t do it, Hagakure.” Celeste glared. “If you’d like to offer your disbelief again, feel free to throw your vote away.” Celeste offered a porcelain smile that made Hagakure wilt.

“While this is all fine and dandy, we still aren’t closer to unmasking the killer!” Taka shouted.

“Well, who would be outside of the dorms that late last night?” Makoto said. “Apart from Byakuya, who else would have business outside of their rooms?”

“Taka does patrol rounds around the halls,” Chihiro said. “And I was in the bathhouse waiting room last night.”

“That gives you an alibi, but what about Taka?” Celeste said.

Taka didn’t respond.

“I can vouch for him! I was outside of the dorms last night too!” Mondo shouted, and Taka aimed a worried look at him.

“Really?” Celeste spoke, wearing a curious smile on her face. “Do go on, Mondo.”

“Y-yeah!” He yelled, his eyes darting from Celeste’s smile, daring him to keep talking, to Kirigiri’s inquisitive yet calm look she always seemed to wear.

“What were you doing, Mondo?” Chihiro asked, rubbing her arms.

“Last night…” He looked at Celeste, then at Monokuma, then at Taka. “Last night, I killed Byakuya.”

“...Really.” Celeste deadpanned. “ _You_ killed Byakuya Togami last night.”

“Of course I did!” Mondo yelled. “I killed him with, with a door! Last night!”

“Okay then. Explain to us how you killed him.” Hina glared, and Mondo took in a sharp breath.

“Last night, after everyone had gone to bed, I got up and snuck up on Byakuya, who was around the boy's restroom.” Mondo paused to breath, looking at Taka. “He noticed me, and tried to fight me.” Mondo’s body shook with every breath he took. “He spilled everything all over the floor, then I...hit him at the door. Yeah. That’s what happened.”

“How did his body end up in the pool then?” Celeste asked.

“I took it there! Yeah, I took it there, and then I took some rope from the pool...and tied him up. That’s what happened.”

“That’s what happened? How did you find rope in the pool?”

“I, I found it in the warehouse!”

“Contradicting your own story doesn’t make you sound more believable, Mondo.” Celeste jeered.

“Mondo.” Taka spoke, his voice tired and light. “You can stop.”

“Taka-” Mondo said, his hand moving to grab Taka’s before Taka jerked it away.

“You can stop covering for me.” He smiled, mouthed something that Makoto couldn’t understand, and turned to Monokuma. “I killed Byakuya Togami.”

“OOOOHHHH!! A TWIST!!!!” Monokuma and Syo cheered in unison.

“...Taka? You did it?” Chihiro said, tears brimming in her eyes. “But, how? Why did you do it?”

“I didn’t mean to, but I still did it.” Taka whispered. “Last night, as I made my rounds, I found Byakuya around the Boys Bathroom.” Taka closed his eyes, his hands clinging to his uniform. “He was investigating something in the closet, and I snuck up on him to try to get him to sleep.”

“When does the door come into play?” Celeste pretended to yawn but was shut up by Kirigiri’s elbow to her side.

“He saw me and thought I was going to kill him. He shouted ‘MURDER! MURDER!’, I was confused while he threw all kinds of supplies at me.” Taka choked on his own words. “Then I pushed him into the closet so he could shake himself out of it, and I heard a horrible, horrible cracking noise, and the next thing I knew there was blood on the wall behind him and I had a corpse on my hands.” Mondo gritted his teeth and gave a look of hurt.

“Did you tie Byakuya’s body to the Pool Wall?” Kirigiri questioned.

“No. I don’t know who did that. I just moved him to the hallway. I figured he would have preferred not to die in the bathroom.”

“Oh? You were still wondering about that?” Celeste spoke. “That was me.”

“ _What?_ ” Kirigiri hissed at her, her eyes shifting from a calm questioning to a wave of furious anger.

“What? Since _you all_ ,” she glared at Makoto and he was sure her looks could kill. “Are so quick to accuse me, I figured I would test your deduction skills, Miss Kirigiri.” Kirigiri leaned forward on her podium, before hearing the sound of crying.

Taka smiled as tears poured over his eyes. “I’m sorry it had to end like this, I’m sorry Byakuya.”

“It was an accident! It wasn’t his fault!” Mondo shouted at a motionless Monokuma. “You can’t kill him! He didn’t do _anything_!”

“Well, technically, it was his yell that scared Byakuya, leading to his mysterious death-by-door,” Celeste said. “But I appreciate your closing statement, Kiyotaka Ishimaru.”

“I guess it’s time to vote then,” Taka spoke. “I’m so grateful I could meet you all.”

“No! I killed him! I’m telling you!” Mondo shouted. “You have to believe me!”

“Enough of your sobbing! Let’s get started on the voting!!” Monokuma laughs ripped through the air, as the screen changed to the familiar tones of voting time. Makoto’s hand shakily moved to the array of buttons, his finger pressing down on the button labeled **10**. Monokuma whirred with excitement. The screen shifted once again to the same recording of the roulette, landing on Taka.

“AND THE BLACKENED IS…!!!” Monokuma’s eye glistened a horrible red as it stared at Taka. “KIYOTAKA ISHIMARU!!!!”

“I’m sorry.” He said. Walking towards Monokuma.

“NO! STOP!” Mondo shouted, pushing out of his podium and towards Taka.

Taka didn’t say anything, he just smiled.

“I’VE PREPARED A VERY SPECIAL PUNISHMENT FOR KIYOTAKA ISHIMARU, THE ULTIMATE MORAL COMPASS!”

“STOP! I’LL KILL YOU, I SWEAR!”

“THRILLS! KILLS! CHILLS! **_IITTTTTTTT’S_** **_PUNISHMENT TIME!!!!”_** Monokuma’scacles filled the air and buried its way into Makoto’s stomach, his heart dropped as Kiyotaka patiently walked towards the same hallway that Sayaka was dragged down.

Kiyotaka walked past the door and saluted as the steel gates closed in front of him. The screen changed to show a small sprite of Taka being dragged away, with the terrible words of:

 

  
  
**CONGRATULATIONS!**

  


**KIYOTAKA ISHIMARU HAS BEEN VOTED GUILTY**

**TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!**

 

Mondo screamed and dashed to the door, his fists pounding on the steel door. Yelling his name as the screen changed again.

 

**PRIME MINISTER ISHIMARU’S INAUGURAL PARADE**

 

Kiyotaka opened his eyes to find himself sitting on top of a parade float, the crowds cheering applause swelling his heart with pride. He was about to die, he knew that. He knew that this parade would end with his death, and that’s what hurt him. The knowledge of death is what made him hurt, not the death itself that he knew would come within seconds. He smiled as his hand raised in the air to wave to the crowd. And Kiyotaka Ishimaru smiled as a bullet shot clean through his heart.

 

No one talked. No one spoke. No one dared move a muscle. Mondo violently shook on the floor.

“He always wanted to be Prime Minister.” Mondo said. “You’re sick.” He looked to Monokuma, his voice dripping with venom.

“Awww...why so sad, Mr. Oowada?” Monokuma giggled. “Was your little fling with Mr. Ishimaru short-lived? Love is fickle like that. Better now than later to learn!”

“‘Fling’?” Chihiro asked. “Is, that why you tried to sacrifice yourself?” Her voice shook. “You loved him?”

Mondo didn’t move. “I don’t know what I felt.” Mondo squinted back tears. “He made me feel…”

  


“He made me feel like I’d known him before. Like this wasn’t the first time I’d met Kiyotaka Ishimaru.”


	6. Game of Lying and Death-DAILY LIFE

“ _ H-hello? Can you hear me?” _

 

Makoto’s eyes shot open just to look at the same ceiling as he had the first time he’d fallen asleep here. Makoto was tired. Very, very tired. Yet, he kicked his legs over the side of the bed - not bothering to change, no one would notice anyway - and headed off to the dining hall. Makoto hoped the day would start like any other day. Celeste and Kirigiri would be arguing, Hagakure and Hifumi being general nuisances, Chihiro programming, just like any other day.

“Oh hi!” Chihiro’s face wore a weary smile and the bags under her eyes did most of the explaining. “We can’t find Kirigiri and everything's gone to hell!”

“What?” Makoto started. “You can’t find her?” Makoto’s eyes darted from face to face, Chihiro to Sakura to Hagakure to Hifumi. Celeste, Toko, and Mondo all remained nowhere to be seen.

“Well, Hina woke up and said she wasn’t feeling too well. So she’s staying in her room for now.” Sakura spoke.

“How do you know that?” Hagakure asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Hina often shares a bed with me,” Sakura said. “She said it helps her sleep.”

“Whatever helps.” Chihiro’s hands reached down to her laptop bag, but instead patting the bag, searching for something. “I have to go.” Chihiro bolted up and immediately started towards the door, only to be cut off by Celeste’s form in the doorway.

“Ah, good morning everyone!” She smiled her fingers under her chin. “I trust breakfast is going well?” Sakura nodded from behind a protein shake.

“Could you move?” Chihiro asked, edging away from Celeste. The Gambler cast a razor-sharp glance at Chihiro, then she politely moved to the left. Chihiro wordlessly moved past her.

“Where have you been?” Sakura questioned. “We were all worried.”

“Oh don’t mind me. I was just checking on Mondo.” Celeste waved off Sakura, her heels clicking like a ticking time-bomb.

“How is he?” Makoto asked, half-talking into his own hand. “Y’know, because of the whole thing with Taka.”

“He won’t talk. Though that might be because I am the one talking to him.” Celeste wondered aloud.

“Where is he?” Sakura asked. “Maybe we could talk to him.” 

“Oh, he wandered off somewhere after I was done with him. I suspect he joined Kirigiri on the third floor.”

“Third floor?” Makoto questioned wildly. “We can go to the third floor?”

Celeste held the door open. “ _ Après Vous _ .” Makoto walked out of the door, as Celeste began leading him around the school. As they passed through the Inn, he could spot Chihiro typing away in the bathhouse changing room, making progress on her program. Celeste walked through the hallways and the wide turns of the school, before reaching the second floors fresh set of stairs, leading to the third floor.

“This is it?”

“It’s stairs. What, were you expecting a red carpet?” Celeste wasted no time trotting up the staircase, prompting Makoto to follow.

The third floor was as vast in scale in the others, and surely greater in its contents. Several classrooms to the right of them were clearly marked “off-limits”, and were blocked off. Directly in front of Makoto was a curious room marked with a dartboard. This one sparked his interest as he pushed open its blue-plush doors.

The room itself was empty, devoid of people inside, but it was littered with games and magazines. The perfect pass time for people trapped in a school for all their lives.

“See anything ya like???” came a mechanic whirring. Makoto’s eyes darted around the room, landing on Monokuma, pretending to sip some sort of smoothie on top of an arcade machine. “This room was made for your comfort!!”

“Why even give us these things?” Makoto walked around the room, examining lockers filled with snacks and shelves stocked with decorative Monokuma chess pieces. “Won’t they just get in the way?”

“Awww, Mr. Naegi, you’re so silly! It’s to  _ spice up _ the killing game a little bit!” Monokuma cheered, hopping up and kicking his feet over the front of the machine. “In the right hands, anything in this harmless room could kill you!” Makoto stayed silent, and Monokuma was gone.

 

Makoto wandered for a bit after that. Walking down the hallways of the third floor, as it slowly filled out with people. The remaining students flooded the floor, save for Toko. In particular, Hifumi was headed for the art room. Makoto followed.

“-we do then?” Upon his entry, both the dangerous glare of Celeste and the simple glare of Hifumi met Makoto’s.

“Am I, interrupting something?” Makoto offered, taking a step back.

“Nothing, of course.” Celeste smiled. “I was merely critiquing Hifumi’s tea making skills. That is all.”

“Y-yup!” Hifumi saluted. “I came in here to study art for my doujins, but Miss Ludenberg found me and started telling me to…”

“I believe my exact words were,” Celeste cleared her throat. “Use more sugar next time, whelp.”

“Uh-huh! What a fun thing to say to me…” Hifumi whined.

“Well, I’ll be off!” And Celeste disappeared through the door.

“What was that about?” Makoto asked once he was sure the door had closed.

“About what?” Hifumi responded, pushing past Makoto. He sighed, deciding to take stock of the room. The room itself was very old-fashioned, held up by pillars, the only semi-modern thing being the cork-board in the back. Next to it was a door, that leads to a storage room filled with materials for model-making. Makoto briefly worried about what someone could do with sharp widdling knives and hammers, before telling himself he was just being irrational and leaving.

 

Last on his list was a large room, with a rotary door labeled “Science Lab”. The inside was a massive warehouse with large scaffolding ladders and hundreds of machines unnameable to Makoto. And at the grand center was a giant spinning machine, with button keys and codes swirling about it at any given moment.

“Glorious, isn’t it?” said the calm and patient voice of Kirigiri.

“That’s a word for it,” Makoto replied, forcing a smile. “I’d just call it ‘Big’.”

“Wondering about the giant machine???” Yelled the all-too-familiar voice of Monokuma, lying in a pose from the top of the massive machine.

“Yes, actually. I wonder how you knew.” Kirigiri deadpanned, nodding to the surveillance camera.

“Oh, just a hunch!” Monokuma whirred. “Anyway, this machine was designed, programmed, and built by past Hope’s Peak students!”

“Oh?” was all Kirigiri actually said, but her face spoke hundreds of volumes.

“Mmm-hmm! It was a collaborative effort between the Ultimate Neurologist, Ultimate Mechanic, and Ultimate Inventor!” Monokuma giggled. “Aiming to ‘Find new ways to prevent diseases by studying human remains.’! IMAGINE THAT!” The robotic bear cackled from on high as Kirigiri turned away in disgust.

“Past Hope’s Peak Students?” Mako

to said. “Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”

“Very.” When their eyes were set on the machine again, Monokuma was gone, but his maniacal laughter still hung heavy in the air. “There’s a door in the back,” Kirigiri stated. “I’ve checked it. Nothing that interesting.” And she left. Makoto sighed and followed out.

 

“Hi. Could I talk to you all for a moment?” Chihiro stood at the entrance of the inn. 

“Where? What’s this about?”

“Bathhouse. In the waiting room.” 

“Why?”

“Can’t say.” and Chihiro turned around and dashed into the bathhouse waiting room.

“I’ll guess we’ll just have to see.”

 

“I call them...Alter Ego.” Chihiro held open the bright green laptop to see a green-tinted image of herself. The other Chihiro smiled.

“What does she...do?” Sakura asked, leaning forward to stare at the almost identical image of Chihiro. She looked realistic enough. From a short distance, they looked just like her creator. But the cracks showed when you saw them up close. Her eyes didn’t move, they looked straight ahead, unmoving. Her shoulders didn’t move when their body imitated breath.

“Alter Ego is a hacking and programming robot.” Chihiro’s voice was just below a hush, holding the computer like she was holding priceless art. “I took this computer from the Library and I’ve been trying my best to decode all the files, but it was just too much.” Chihiro sighed. “But Alter Ego here decodes the files for me! It didn’t take too long to program, and, she talks!”

“Really?” Kirigiri asked, leaning in close. “May I say something to them?”

“Sure! Just type on the keyboard.” Chihiro stood back and smiled proudly. 

Kirigiri’s gloved fingers nimbly moved across the plastic, tapping out a small message.

“Why I am making great progress, Miss Kirigiri!” came a synthetic voice from the computer's speakers. It wasn’t quite human, but rather, what a computer would find a rough approximation of a human voice.

“Why does she sound...like that?” Makoto asked, giving a wary look to Chihiro, who sighed and giggled sheepishly.

“I had to whatever voice banks I could find to give Alter Ego a voice…” Chihiro mumbled. “Vocaloid was my only option.” 

“Isn’t that the robot singer thing?” Celeste asked, her nails gliding against each other.

“Sometimes I wanna sound like Hatsune Miku,” Chihiro stumbled over her words, her cheeks flushing pink. “Is that a crime?”

“May I ask them more questions?” Kirigiri questioned. Chihiro nodded. 

After a few strings of dialogue, Alter Ego spoke. “I currently do not have any files available to you. I apologize, Miss Kirigiri.” Her fingers typed a phrase. “Thank you! Please understand that I am working as fast as I can to get you those files!”

“Do you have any kind of safeguard? In case something happens to her?” Sakura asked.

“Yes. I have a USB drive with all of their coding on it. If anything happens to the laptop holding Alter Ego, we have a back-up.” Chihiro smiled.

“This is amazing.” Kirigiri gave a grateful look to Chihiro, her face showing a warm smile. Maybe the first smile Makoto had seen on Kirigiri. “Thank you.”

“Heh-huh-it’s not really-thanks-its not much-Im just glad to be useful-” Chihiro stuttered her hands clasped in front of her chest.

Kirigiri stood up and walked towards Chihiro, taking her clasped hands in her own gloved ones. “Don’t sell yourself short. You’re the Ultimate Programmer for a reason.”

Chihiro’s eyes brimmed with tears. “Thank you...that...means a lot to me.” Chihiro blinked a few times, before scooping up Alter Ego’s Laptop and typing a goodbye message. She placed the laptop in one of the various lockers in the waiting room, slamming the door shut and locking it with a key.

“So, will they just continue their work?” Sakura asked. “Don’t you need to monitor her?”

Chihiro shook her head. “No. They are entirely independent. I do need to make daily progress reports though.”

“That’s amazing.” Sakura praised, a grin spreading across her face.

“It’s nothing much, really…” Chihiro blushed, rubbing her arms.

“Anyway, this sure has been an eventful day! Let’s head to bed, shall we?” Makoto pointed out the door, he really did need to sleep.

“Good idea.” and Kirigiri was gone. The rest soon followed, retreating to their individual rooms.

 

The next morning, and one shower later, Makoto slides out of bed and changes. He definitely felt better after Chihiro’s showcase of Alter Ego. He felt, hopeful, for the first time since the beginning of the killing game. That maybe they could make it out if they tried hard enough. Makoto felt happy thoughts as he opened the door to the Dining Hall. 

Everyone was there, in stark contrast with yesterday. Hifumi and Celeste were conversing without violence for once. Kirigiri quietly ate cereal, while Mondo tried and failed to move a buttered slice of bread into his mouth. Chihiro was holding a loose conversation with Hina, who was doing most of the talking. Hagakure sipped some foul-smelled drink with a delighted look on his face. While Sakura was mixing something in the blender as Toko was furiously gobbling down an undistinguishable plate of food.

“Ah, you’re here,” Sakura said, releasing the button on the blender. “What something to eat? I’m sure Toko will share.”

“LIKE HELL I WILL!” She shouted in between bites, Kirigiri flicking crumbs of something away from her plate.

Makoto walked forward, careful to choose a seat on the end of the table opposite to Toko.

“Dear god, Hagakure.” Celeste chided behind her tea. “What is in that drink? Your pitiful excuse for a brain?”

“I BET HE PUT WEED IN IT!” Hifumi shouted, jabbing an accusing finger in the air.

“STOP ACCUSING ME OF BEING A STONER!” He shouted back, slamming his fist on the table.

“But be honest, are you a stoner?” Hina giggled.

“NO!!! I AM NOT!!!” Hagakure yelled, but everyone refused to look at him. “Ok, ok, gimme a show of hands, who thought I was a stoner?”

Everyone put their hands up.

“COME ON GUYS, WHAT THE FUCK?!” He screamed, grabbing at his hair.

“420 Blaze It.” Toko deadpanned, not turning away from her food.

“I hate this family…” Hagakure sunk into his chair, much to the rest of the classes amusement.

“It’s alright, Hagakure,” Makoto reassured. “But whatever is in that mug needs to go.”

“Whaaaaat? It’s Herbal Coffee!”

“Isn’t that usually Herbal Tea?”

“Seriously, I think I’m gonna get food poisoning from just looking at it.” Makoto groaned.

Wordlessly, Celeste’s hand wrapped around the mug and walked it to the trashcan, looking Hagakure dead in the eye as a solid glob of green mush slipped out of it.

“Hagakure what the fuck,” Makoto stated, his face wrinkled into the visage of sheer disgust.

“It’s good for you!” Hagakure defended, flailing his arms futility through the air.

“Come o-” Sakura’s words were caught in her throat as the door of the Dining Hall slammed open.

“Hello, my dear students!” Makoto’s face fell, as he turned in his seat to see the grinning visage of Monokuma.

“That’s what I guessed…” Celeste sighed.

“Huh?” 

“We were having fun, being friends.” Celeste gave a small smile and stood up. “A disgusting ingrate like you wouldn’t want to let that last.”

Monokuma sniffled. Or at least, he got as close as a machine could get to sniffling. “You all are so cruel to me!” He whined. “You should be nicer to your Headmaster!”

“We would be nicer to you if you haven’t caused 5 people to perish.” Celeste spat, squatting down to meet Monokuma eye to eye. “Why would I be nice to someone who makes my life hell, hmm?” She aimed a clawed finger at Monokuma’s noise, tapping him lightly before turning on her heel and returning to her seat.

“WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO MEEEEE???!!!” Monokuma groaned, wiggling on the floor. “EVERYONE’S COLD AND MEAN! Even after I got a present for you all!”

“A present?” Makoto wondered aloud, and in seconds Monokuma was on its feet and inches from his face.

“Got your attention, didn’t I?” Monokuma glared at Celeste, before trotting over to Mondo and resting on his shoulder. The Biker didn’t respond. He didn’t move. “Puhuhuhuhu,”

“Don’t dodge the question!” Hina shouted. “What present?”

“Puhuhuhuhuhu…” Monokuma giggled a terrible giggle, it’s eye gleaming with pure delight. “Come students! Let's head to the gym, where your present awaits!” And it was gone.

“So, he’s going to give us another motive, eh?” Hina sighed. “I don’t want to do this anymore.

“ANOTHER motive?” Hifumi groaned. “Can’t we just skip this one??”

“Idiot.” Celeste slapped his head. “He’ll likely kill us if we aren’t in attendance.”

“It’s fine. We’ll be fine.” Chihiro stated. “We have  _ her _ now. We’ll be fine.” She seemed to be reassuring herself more than the others, but her words were taken to heart as they all walked to the gym together.

“So, Toko,” Hina started. “When did you start being, y’know...Toko, again?”

“What do you mean, Toko again?!” she shouted back. “THAT’S SO RUDE! I HOPE YOU ALL WIN THE LOTTERY AND GET HIT BY A BUS!”

“I don’t know why I bothered…”

“So, what do you think it is this time?” Sakura asked as the class turned the corner down the stairs.

“The motive?” Celeste responded, her hands folded at her waist. “Who knows. I surely didn’t expect our deepest darkest secrets.”

“Speaking of deepest secrets,” Kirigiri cut in. “What was everyone's?”

“Her.” Toko hissed.

Chihiro and Sakura stayed silent.  
“It really was nothing,” Makoto started but didn’t finish.

“I’m a liar.” Celeste smiled.

“What?” Kirigiri responded, throwing a confused glance at the girl wearing the roulette wheel.

“You heard me.” Celeste’s face didn’t change. In fact, her smile grew wider. “I’m. A. Liar.”

Kirigiri stayed silent. Makoto had come to compare the girl in the trenchcoat to a calculator in his head. Able to answer impossible questions and make impossible decisions, in impossible amounts of time.

“You know why they call me the Ultimate Gambler? It’s not an exaggeration.” She twirled her hair as she walked. “I’ve made millions in underground rings. I’ve swindled the worst of the worst out of their money, like nothing.”

“What does that have to do with being a liar?” Kirigiri shot back.

“Don’t be silly, Kyoko.” Kirigiri seethed behind shut teeth. “I can assure you this is the truth,” Celeste giggled a hollow giggle, one without emotion. “They used to call me the Queen of Liars, those dirty old men. They would go home in packs, tails between their legs, tears in their eyes.”

“That’s horrifying…” Chihiro sighed, her voice a few octaves higher.

“I’ve ruined many a life. I’m quite a monster, Chihiro.” The girl in the sweater looked anywhere but Celeste’s spiked vision. “I can lie my way out of anything. I’m the Queen.”

“What’s your name again?” Kirigiri spoke. And Celestia laughed. She laughed a low-pitched, vicious, brutal laugh.

“My name is Celestia Ludenberg!” She said between breaths. And Makoto thought that it might have been the very first truthful thing out of Celeste’s mouth. “And I’m your Queen.”

 

“GEEZ!” Monokuma yelled from his podium as the class (now consisting of 10 students) entered the gymnasium. “How long does it take to walk to a gym?!”

“Where’s the present you promised?” Sakura stepped forward, muscular arms crossed over her chest.

“Patience, Ms. Oogami!” Monokuma dipped below his podium, pulling a box out from underneath. “I have your present riiiiight here!” The bear brought the box back to his original position, ripping it open and stacking the contents high on the podium.

Makoto gasped at the sight. It was...money. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of dollars were spread out in front of them.

“So? What’dya think? Pretty sexy right?” Monokuma gestured to the pile of green.

“How much is it?” Toko questioned an intrigued half-smile dancing on her face.

“TEN MILLION DOLLARS!!!!” Monokuma cheered, laughing hysterically. “I know, I know, it’s cheesy, but its true!”

“Ten million?! How the hell did you get that much money?!” Hagakure shouted.

“I’m not one to kiss and tell, Mr. Hagakure!” Monokuma huffed. “But all this money could be yours! All you have to do is kill someone!”

“WHO WOULD BE PETTY ENOUGH TO KILL JUST FOR THE MONEY?” Hina yelled, her eyes shooting from person to person. 

“Hina’s right!” Makoto joined, taking a step towards the bear. “We’re not stupid! No one here would kill just for the cash!”

“You sure ‘bout that?” Monokuma chided. “Remember the last time someone said that no one would ever use a motive?” Makoto’s mind jumped back in time, to Sayaka Maizono’s last performance.

“ALRIGHTY!” The bear cheered. “Head back upstairs children! I’m very excited to see what you’ll do with your new motive!”

 

Upon their return to the Dining Hall, the class immediately began discussion.

“Monokuma is losing his mojo,” Hina said. “I mean, money? What kind of motive is that?”

“We don’t know everyone's living situations in the outside world. We don’t know if anyone could use that money.” Sakura added, her mouth pressed into a solid line.

“It’s fine if you do not want to share.” Kirigiri started. “But could you share some more about your life? Anyone.”

“Nhhh…” Toko groaned, fingering her braids with chipped nails.

“My Mom and I made do on our own.” Hagakure offered, hands folded behind his head.

“My parents were both inventors. We were fine.” Chihiro stated.

“I’m the Ultimate Gambler. My talent makes me all sorts of money.” Celeste offered, braiding pieces of her hair between her ringed fingers.

The rest of the students, Makoto included, stayed silent. Celeste scoffed.

“What is it this time?” She singled out Kyoko Kirigiri with a signature Celestia stare.

“What?”

“Don’t have any information to offer? Why I thought you were simply a fountain of wisdom!” Celeste’s voice cracked her accent breaking.

“Aren’t you the “Queen of Liars”? How do I know you’re just lying?”

“REALLY? HOW DO YOU KNOW IF I’M LYING? Amnesia sure is a convenient excuse, isn’t it?!”

Kirigiri tensed. Her shoulders squaring as her she took in a breath. “Come again?”

“YOU HEARD ME!” Celeste turned on her heels, adding an easy 5 inches to her height. “THIS girl! KYOKO KIRIGIRI, claims to have forgotten her own talent! I’d guess you’ve forgotten you’re backstory too? Hmm? WELL?”

Kirigiri didn’t react but was showing no effort to hide her quaking fists. “I do not recall anything that happened to me before entering Hope’s Peak Academy.” And Kirigiri turned and left. Leaving a stunned Celestia Ludenberg shaking in her heels.

“Perfect.” Celeste’s voice was not her own. And when she turned to look at the class, Celeste’s smile was larger. Her small, doll-like smiles were replaced with a grin that one could only describe as manic. Her eyes shook, her clawed hand dug so far into her own hand that blood dripped from the stainless metal. “Just. Perfect.”

  
  


Makoto woke up late the next day. He woke up and late and stumbled his way into up to the 3rd floor, keen to find Celeste. 

“Makoto!” Called Hina’s voice down the hall, the girl waving furiously in front of the Art Room. “You looking for Kirigiri?”

“Celeste, actually.” Makoto sighed. “After yesterday, I wanted to see if she was okay.”

“That’s fair.” Hina titled on her heels. “Let’s start looking then, shall we? The art room will prolly be a good place to start!” Makoto smiled and opened the art room’s door to find the place eerily silent. The lights dimmed to almost pure black, the place devoid of life. Makoto took his steps one at a time, wandering to the storage door, and his eyes widening with despair as he saw, the lifeless body lying on the once stainless room. A bloodstained mallet lay on the floor, taken off the rack on the back wall. Makoto fell to his knees as he looked into the still open eyes of Yasuhiro Hagakure, The Ultimate Clairvoyant.


	7. Game of Lying and Death-DEADLY LIFE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Hintings of parental abuse + Celeste's massive vocabulary

“OOPSY DAISY! A BODY HAS BEEN DISCOVERED!”

 

The door behind Makoto was kicked open as the remaining students dashed into the room. Hagakure looked shocked and betrayed as he stared up at the wall. He would be staring up at the wall forever.

“Hagakure?” Hifumi questioned. “HAGAKURE?!” He ran up to his body cradling his head in his hands.

“Tch,” Celeste chided. “Don’t be so dramatic.” She walked up to Hagakure, kicking Hifumi off of him. “You’ll mess with the crime scene. Hifumi whimpered out of the room, and not soon after, waddled in the frame of Monokuma.

“Hellllooo!!!” He whistled. “Hoh boy! Ain’t this a doozy!” He whirred, sliding up to Hagakure, and producing yet another file.

“Give it here.” Kirigiri motioned for the file, but not before Celeste could snatch it away.

“Why don’t you let someone else lead the investigation this time around? Since we don’t even know your talent.” Celeste smiled, and Makoto flashed back to the Desperate Grin on her face. That seemed so long ago now.

“Don’t be silly,” Makoto refuted, reaching for the Monokuma file. “Kirigiri has always helped us to the truth at every turn. She should lead the investigation.”

“Besides, I don’t trust  _ liars _ .” Hina spat.

“Celeste can lead the investigation,” Kirigiri stated. “I can see when I’m not wanted.” she moved to walk out of the door. And Makoto knew they were doomed. In a fit of terror and impulsivity, his hand leaped forward of its own accord, gripping the sleeve of Kirigiri’s trench coat.

“Please.” He urged. “At least help.” Makoto’s pleading green eyes met Kirigiri’s tired violet ones. And her gloved hand removed itself from the doorknob. 

“If you’re quite done,” She tapped the file, as the screen flickered to life. “Let us begin.” Celeste cleared her throat. “Victim: Yasuhiro Hagakure. Time of Death: 12:00 PM. Height: 6'0". Weight: 157 lbs. Chest Size: 32 in. Blood Type: B.” Celeste sighed. “Murder Weapon: Chiseling Mallet.” The file closed and Celeste placed it gingerly on the back wall’s work desk.

“Alright,” Makoto sighed. “Let’s get to work.”

“Wait.” Celeste put a hand up. “First, let’s split up. Hina, Sakura, and Toko should look for other clues and Hifumi outside of the art room. Find Mondo as well, as he seems to be missing.” Toko was already out of the door, and Sakura and Hina soon followed.

“If there is nothing else you’d like to say,” Kirigiri leaned down to inspect Yasuhiro. “Let’s begin.” Her gloved hand pushed back his cloud of hair, looking for the wound itself. Soon after she found the source, she motioned for the mallet to be handed to her. Celeste obliged.

“The wound is located near the back of his head,” Kirigiri said, comparing the weapon with the wound. “It was most likely a surprise attack. The culprit brought the hammer up and whacked it into his skull from behind.  
“Look at Hagakure’s coat,” Makoto stated, pointed to the edge of the garment. 

“A tear? And look at how deep it is.” Kirigiri stated. “Something sharp had to have made this, but it’s not the murder weapon.

“What’s this-” Celeste said from the other corner of the room before her voice was cut off by a scream and the happy tune of despair.

 

_ Ding Dong Bing Bong! _

 

“WOWIE!!! A BODY HAS BEEN DISCOVERED!” Monokuma was euphoric, as Makoto wanted to cry.

“ _ What _ ?!” shouted Celeste and Kirigiri in unison. The girls got up and dashed out the door, as Makoto forced himself out the door behind him. 

He walked out of the Art Room, turning every one corner like a runner in a triathlon. One more turn to the rec room, where a crowd of students awaited him. One more turn. He pushed open the door. The room was trashed, the novelty bottles lay shattered on the ground. The magazines open and bloodied. And finally, lying among the crowd of horrified students, lay the corpse of Mondo Oowada, The Ultimate Biker Gang Leader.

“You guys have really outdone yourself!” Monokuma cheered as he pushed through the crowd. “TWO murders? Positively EXQUISITE!” He tossed the Monokuma File onto the floor, and Kirigiri snatched it up.

“Monokuma,” Sakura stated. “What happens if this was two different murderers? Are there two different murderers?”

“The term is  _ Blackened _ , Miss Oogami.” The bear spat. “And I’m not telling you!!”

“But if the culprit-Blackened.” Kirigiri corrected herself as she talked. “If the Blackened are different people, does that mean that we will hold two separate class trials?”

“Ding Dong That’s Wrong!” Monokuma whirred. “We’ll only be putting on one trial, and that is for the murder of Yasuhiro Hagakure! His death occurred first, which completely nullifies this one!”

“ _ NULLIFIES?! _ ” Surprisingly, Makoto found himself screaming. “How DARE you!” His voice strained in his throat, but he kept going. “Can you just stand there and talk like this never happened?! What’s wrong with you?!”

“A lot of things are wrong with me, Mr. Naegi,” Monokuma stated. His sing-song tone disappearing. “But listen when I tell you,” His eye shone brighter than Makoto thought was possible as his featureless face spoke. “That Mondo Oowada was never a player in this Killing Game. He had a chance, he could’ve been memorable. But in the end, he was just loud, rough, and absolutely meaningless.”

No one dared to move. Makoto’s voice shrunk back into his throat, as his knees threatened to fall out from underneath him.

“Whelp!” Monokuma said, his voice returning to its usually peppy self. “See you in three hours! Let’s make this a great class trial!!!” and it was gone.

“Makoto,” Kirigiri sounded far off. But Makoto didn’t care. He couldn’t hear her anymore. Before he knew it, he was on the floor, crying. Tears spilled off his face with reckless abandon, as Makoto Naegi sobbed to himself on the floor of a rec room, ten feet away from a dead guy. He fought back against Monokuma, what on earth had he been thinking. He had seen what happened if you fought back against Monokuma. And yet, here he was. He was crying, on the floor of a rec room, with a dead guy. Makoto Naegi wanted to disappear. If it meant he could leave, Makoto Naegi would gladly die.

“Victim: Mondo Oowada.” STOMP. “Time of Death: 9:30.” “Height: 5’ 9”.” STOMP. “Weight: 168 lbs.” STOMP. “Chest Size: 39 inches.” STOMP. “Blood Type: A-.” STOMP. “Murder Weapon: Glass Bottle.” STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. 

“Makoto?” Celeste’s accented voice interrupted his memories. “We need to actually do work.”

“He needs space...give it to him.” Chihiro mused, rubbing her arms again.

“No. No, I can help.” Makoto forced himself up, his eyes muddled by tears.

Kirigiri offered him a worried smile. “Let’s get to work then.

“When did you say he died?” Hina questioned. “9:30?”

“Correct,” Celeste said, rubbing her palms together.

“So he died only a few minutes ago…” Sakura whispered to herself.

“So the culprit in Mondo’s murder had to have left clues,” Kirigiri stated. “Hina, did you find anything? Or see anyone? You came to the Rec Room first, correct?”

“I didn’t see anyone,” Hina affirmed. “All I saw was...Mondo.” She sighed. “Could I step out?”

“I’ll go with you.” Sakura placed a hand on her back as the pair stepped out.

Kirigiri gasped as she investigated Mondo’s body. “Glass. Lot’s of glass.” Makoto leaned over Kirigiri to spy hundreds of glass shards planted into the back of Mondo’s head. Brown in color, they had sunk in pretty deep, and near his head, lay a novelty Monokuma Chess Piece and a handle.

“These bottles are identical, the ones lined up on the wall, I mean,” Celeste stated. “But it would have been incredibly hard to smash this over Mondo’s head without being detected.”

“What’s going on in here????” Shouted Genocider’s voice as she waltzed into the classroom. “OOOOOOO BODY!!!” She zipped around the room, grabbing random things and whipping around Mondo. “Evidence! Evidence!” She dropped a pile of trashed magazines, a half-eaten donut, and an empty protein shake in front of Kirigiri.

“What’s all that?” Makoto asked. “Just garbage?”

“Hina, Sakura, and…” Celeste leaned down and snatched up a magazine, flipping through it and finding the name TOKO in blood. “Toko.”

“A TWIST!” Syo cheered on from the sidelines.

“Three different suspects?” Kirigiri said, cupping her chin with a gloved hand.

“Three different murderers?” Makoto returned.

“It’s three pieces of garbage until we get more evidence.” Celeste spat. “Come, I’ll go back to Hifumi’s body and find what I can, Syo will come with me.” Celeste waved.

“I’ll stay here and check out Mondo,” Kirigiri stated. Makoto nodded.

“Let’s go, Syo.”

“Yup!Yup!Yup!Yup!” 

“Alright.” Kirigiri cracked her fingers, stepping up and combing the room. “There’s a dent in the lockers.” Makoto followed her, investigating the massive indent in the steel lockers.

“Was there a struggle?”

“I think it was the opposite,” Kirigiri spoke. Her eyes widening. “I need to see Mon-”

 

“Attention my  _ 6 _ students!” Monokuma cheered over the announcement. “Please report to the Symbol of Strength statue to begin the class trial!” Makoto gulped. Kirigiri sighed. And the pair headed to the bear statue in the entrance hall.

 

Monokuma was lounging on the bear, pretending to yawn. “Puhuhuhu...I can tell this one will be exciting!”

“You can shut up.” Did Makoto say that? Makoto said that. Does Makoto want to die? The door was closing behind him. Turn back, you can still leave, you can still leave. Turn back, Turn Back, TURN BACK TURN BACK TURN BACK TURN BACK. Deeper, Deeper, Deeper, Deeper, Deeper, Deeper.

The tracks scratched and hissed as the metal coffin descended deeper into the school. Makoto stood there, among dead boys and girls walking on two feet. One of them had killed two people. One of these people was willingly placing their head on a chopping block and calling for the ax.

Then they stopped. And the door opened. And Makoto stepped outside.

“Welcome Welcome Welcome to another exhilarating Class Trial!” Monokuma cheered, pumping his fists into the air. Makoto stepped onto his podium, refusing to acknowledge the standing visages of Taka, Hagakure, and Mondo.

“Let’s just get this over with…” Chihiro sniffed, moving into her podium. The other students followed suit, filling in the quickly diminishing seats.

“Before we begin! Let us run through the rules of the trial!” Monokuma smiled. “Over the course, you will debate the true identity of the killer, and then, you will vote for the Blackened! If you vote right, only the blackened will be executed! If you vote wrong, then all but the Blackened will be executed, allowing them to go free.”

“We know. Can we just get started?” Celeste scoffed.

“Yeesh! I’m just trying to help! This the thanks I get?? Hmmph!” Monokuma sat down on his throne in a huff, and waved, signaling for the trial to begin.

“Okay. So let’s review what we know.” Makoto began. “Hagakure was killed last night in the Art Room with a chiseling mallet.

“And Mondo was killed just a few hours ago in the Rec Room with one of the novelty Monokuma bottles.” Kirigiri finished.

“Where was everyone last night?” Chihiro asked. “Let’s get alibis before we begin.”  
“Asleep!” Hifumi blurted out.

“I was asleep in my room,” Celeste confirmed.  
“I was in the dining room.” Kirigiri offered.

“Asleep,” Makoto stated.

“Who else was sleeping?” Toko stated before people could continue. Hifumi, Celeste, Makoto, and Chihiro all raised their hands.

“Ok, then Toko, myself, Hina, and Sakura were all without alibis last night,” Kirigiri stated. “Can anyone vouch for someone else?” No one spoke against Kirigiri. She hummed.

“Ok, but I want to talk about Mondo’s murder!” Hina said. “There is way more evidence in the rec room!”

“Inconclusive evidence,” Makoto offered back. “None of it makes sense with the rest of the scene.”

“What was there even? He got hit with a bottle and that was it, right?” Sakura returned.

“There was a dent in one of the steel lockers, a magazine with “Toko” written in blood, a half-eaten donut, and a protein shake,” Makoto stated.

“Protein shake?” Sakura questioned. “Why on earth would I leave a protein shake in the rec room?”

“I’m not accusing you,” Makoto said. “But I don’t trust Toko.”

“W-what?!” She shouted. “Why on earth would I kill that corn-headed piece of shit?!”

“Miss Fukawa didn’t do it!” Hifumi shouted abruptly. “GENOCIDER SYO DID!”

“Not this again…” Celeste sighed.

“No! I have a theory!” Hifumi stated. “Genocider Syo killed Mondo, then wrote her name in his blood to frame Toko! Cause doesn't she hate Toko?”

“That, homicidal, bitch, hates me, but if I die she dies!” Toko shouted. “Why the FUCK would she throw herself over the bus?!”

“Isn’t it ‘under’?” Hifumi asked.

“BESIDES THE POINT! I DIDN’T DO IT! AND SCISSORBITCH DIDN’T EITHER!”

“Let’s drop Mondo’s case for now,” Celeste stated. “Besides, I already know who killed Hagakure.” She grinned.

“What?” Kirigiri asked. “We don’t have any evidence-”

“BEHOLD!” Celeste’s hand flew into the air, a pink, blood-stained handkerchief trapped within her fingers.

“W-wait!” Hifumi yelled but was cut off by Celeste.

“I’m getting to you, Hifumi, don’t worry.” Celeste threw the handkerchief on the evidence table. “That is a bloodstained Princess Piggles Anime glasses-wipe,” Celeste stated. “Owned by one Hifumi Yamada!”

“NHHH!!” Hifumi groaned.

“Hifumi?” Kirigiri said, her voice actually shocked.

“Y-you promised!”  
“Bold of you to trust a liar, Hifumi.” Celeste sneered.

“Hold on!” Makoto refuted. “We don’t know that Hifumi did it.”

“Are you blind? I clearly presented condemning Hifumi. How can we ‘not know’ that Hifumi did it?” Celeste spat, her claw ring digging into the wooden podium.

“We don’t know all the details!” Makoto fired back. “I don’t want to believe Hifumi did it until we have all the evidence.”

“ **_IT WAS YASUHIRO!”_ ** Hifumi screamed, and no one moved. They just all stared. At the quivering form of Hifumi Yamada, his large figure suddenly seeming small.

“What?” Celeste stated. “Yasuhiro’s dead, remember? You killed him?”

“NOT HIM!! YASUHIRO!!” 

“Hifumi, you aren’t making any sense-”

“Wait.” Kirigiri cut off Makoto’s words. “Hifumi? Did you kill him?”

“NO! IT WASN’T MEEE!!”

“How long are you going to keep this up?!” Celeste yelled, her voice cracking.

“Celeste.”

“WHAT?”

“It was you.”

Celeste’s figure didn’t move. She just stood there, her red eyes darting from person to person, before fixing themselves against Kirigiri’s violet ones. “W-what are you implying?”

“Let’s review,” Kirigiri stated. “Who was the first person to arrive into the Art Room after Makoto and Hina? Celeste. Who reacted the most to the Money motive? Celeste.” Kirigiri stated. “Who suddenly brought forth the evidence throwing Hifumi under the bus? Celeste.”

“That is a simply prePOSTEROUS-” Celeste’s accent trailed off. “A simply preposterous statement with shaky evidence and practically no basis!”

“Who has enough control over Hifumi and could drive him to murder? Celeste. And who would lie enough, and have the need for the fake identity?” Kirigiri finished. “Why, The Queen of Liars, of course.”

“Why, how dare you, accuse me of killing Yasuhiro! How DARE YOU just stand there and told me I did it! Because I didn’t!”

“Celeste. Tell me your real name.” Kirigiri commanded. Celeste just stared ahead.

“Celestia Ludenberg.” She stated, her hands folded at her waist.

“A teenage girl in an underground gambling ring is a recipe for disaster.” Makoto cut in. “You’d HAVE to use a fake name to protect yourself.”

“So, explain how Hagakure’s murder doesn’t tie back to you.” Kirigiri returned, her face devoid of emotion.

“Because…” Celeste’s face fell. “Because,” Her whole body shook, her hair-drills motionless. “BECAUSE,” Her claw ring scratched the podium beneath her, leaving a massive indent. “BECAUSE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE!!!”

“I’ll only ask you one more time.” Celeste cocked her head in mock choice. “What is your real name.”

Celeste’s face twisted into a manic grimace, her hands clawing at the podium beneath her, her whole body shaking. “I ALREADY TOLD YOU!” She aimed her clawed finger at Kirigiri’s head. “MY. NAME. IS.  **_CELESTIA FUCKING LUDENBERG! AND I AM THE QUEEN OF THE GODDAMN LIARS!”_ **

“Yelling won’t get you anywhere.” Kirigiri fired back, a gloved hand under her chin.

“ **_TELL ME THEN! WHAT IS YOUR UNTRUE AND ASININE HYPOTHESIS?! HMM? I GUARANTEE I CAN PROVE IT AS ERRONEOUS!”_ **

“Let’s say that Celeste met with Hifumi a few days ago and made a plan,” Kirigiri spoke. “She gave some kind of false promise to Hifumi if he helped her carry out a murder.”

“ ** _HA! HOW IMBECILIC DOES ONE HAVE TO BE?!”_**  Celeste screamed back. “ ** _DO YOU THINK YOU’RE BEING CLEVER? BECAUSE I CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH YOUR STUPID MASK OF CALM!_** ”  
“Anyway,” Kirigiri cleared her throat. “Celeste said all that Hifumi had to do was go to the art storage room in two days.”

“ **_FALSE! UNTRUE! DISTORTED! YOU’RE TELLING AN OUTRIGHT LIE! YOU THOUGHTLESS PIECE OF S H IT!”_ **

“Then, she turned around and told Hagakure the same thing.”

“ **_I DID WHAT? H-HOW DO WE KNOW THAT YOU AREN’T FRAMING ME TO JUST COVER YOUR OWN TRACKS, HMM? HUH? ANSWER ME!”_ **

“She offered Hagakure escape if she just helped him execute a murder. And he was stupid enough to buy it wholesale.”

“ **_I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT! YOUR IDEA IS SO HALF-BAKED IT MIGHT AS WELL BE ONE OF HIFUMI’S SHITTY ASS FUCKING PASTRIES! SERIOUSLY, YOU CALL THAT A QUICHE?!”_ **

“Hifumi arrived at the Art Storage Room before Hagakure. Celeste was waiting for him, and offered Hifumi the mallet, and told him to hide. Hifumi hid in one of the storage closets and waited for her signal.”

“ **_AND THERE YOU GO AGAIN! MAKING UP FALSE AND BASELESS EVIDENCE IN AN EVENT TO SULLY THE LUDENBERG NAME! HA! IMAGINE THAT! KYOKO G O D D A MN KIRIGIRI BEING UNTRUSTWORTHY?! BUT SHE HELPED US RIGHT-”_ **

“Hagakure arrived and Hifumi approached him on Celeste’s order. Hagakure tried to escape and Celeste grabbed his coat, causing the rip me and Makoto saw. Your claw ring created it.”

“ **_THIS HERE? THIS CLAW WAS A GIFT FROM A GERMAN MINISTER AFTER I OUT-GAMBLED HIS EXTENDED MATERNAL FAMILY!”_ **

“Hifumi finished off Hagakure, killing him with the mallet. The pair then fled the scene, leaving us to find Hagakure’s body the next day.”

“ **_ARE YOU QUITE FUCKING DONE?!”_ ** Celeste screamed. “ **_GOD, IM NOT GETTING YOUNGER OVER HERE!!”_ **

“Celestia Ludenberg, the Ultimate Gambler, tell me your real name.”

Celeste grinned. “ **_MY NAME,”_ ** Tears welled into her eyes and spilled onto her black satin dress. She didn’t care. “My name…My name is...MY NAME IS...MY NAME IS!” She choked on her own words, her body sinking into her podium.

“Just be honest with me. Please.”

“My name is Taeko Yasuhiro.” The voice that came out of Celestia Ludenberg’s body was not the voice of Celestia Ludenberg. The voice was small, meek, and afraid.

“What?” Makoto inquired. Celeste’s (Taeko’s ?) eyes widened as if just now hearing what she just said. Her hands flew to her mouth, slamming her voice back into her throat.

“Taeko...Yasuhiro…” Kirigiri stumbled.

“S-SEE!!! I CAN CONFIRM MS. KIRIGIRI’S TESTIMONY!!!” Hifumi screamed. “VINDICATION!!! HER NAME IS TAEKO YASUHIRO!!!”

“But you still killed him.” Toko spat. “You still killed him, and you’re still guilty.”

“Huh?” Hifumi responded.

“YUP YUP YUP!!! Miss Yasuhiro, may have been the one behind this little case, But Mr. Yamada still did Mr. Hagakure in!” Celeste cringed at her real name, finally allowing tears to streak down her once pristine face, makeup muddling and blurring around her now tired eyes.

“But we aren’t done here!” Chihiro cut in, Celeste sinking to her knees. “How do we know that Celeste didn’t kill Mondo?”

“She wouldn’t need to,” Makoto stated. “Remember Monokuma’s new rule?”

“ ‘His death occurred first, which completely nullifies this one’?” Sakura stated.

“Exactly. Plus, Celeste wouldn’t have left such clear evidence at the scene, without trying to frame someone.” Makoto offered.

“I can say with utmost certainty that I did not kill Mondo.” Celeste offered.

“I think I know who might’ve,” Kirigiri stated.

“Really?! Who was it then? This stress isn’t good for any of us.” Sakura frantically questioned.

“Mondo committed suicide.” She stated, and Makoto’s stomach turned.

“Corn Head killed himself?” Toko shouted. “How’d that work?”

“When I was investigating with Makoto, all the conflicting evidence was intriguing,” Kirigiri stated. “A donut for Hina, a Protein Shake for Sakura, and a Magazine for Toko.”

“I DIDNT DO IT!” Toko screamed.

“Exactly. Mondo killed himself.” Kirigiri stated. 

“It’s because of Taka, right?” Makoto added thumb to his chin. “He killed himself over grief?”

“No,” Celeste stated, her eyes wide in realization. “He wanted to take us down.”

“Exactly!” Kirigiri cheered. “Mondo wanted all of us to die for killing Taka, so he tried to frame Hina, Sakura, and Toko for the murder.”

“But...he died too soon to hear about the double murder rule…” Hina sighed. “I’m sorry, Mondo.” She spoke, her eyes fixed on the standing portrait of the biker.

“Jesus! You all and your sob fests!” Monokuma groaned. “Makes me wanna puke! So??? Let’s vote! Who will be chosen as the Blackened?! Will you pick the  _ right  _ choice? Or the  _ dreadfully WRONG _ one?!”

The set of buttons in front of Makoto lit up like a switchboard. As all eyes turned to Hifumi. Makoto’s finger quivered, traveling to button number 15. 

“VOTING TIME! VOTING TIME! VOTING TIME!” Monokuma cheered as his roulette wheel flared behind him. “And the Blackened is…!!!”

 

“HIFUMI YAMADA!!!”

 

“NOOOOOOOOOO” And he was gone. As fast as he could carry himself, Hifumi sprinted towards the elevator.

“Ugh…” Monokuma moaned, leaning into his paw and whispering, “Security!!! We’ve got a runner!!” The second he was finished talking, a steel collar descended from the ceiling, wrapping itself around Hifumi’s neck and dragging him away.

“STOPSTOPSTOSP!”

“I’ve prepared a VERY SPECIAL punishment for Hifumi Yamada! The ULTIMATE DOUJIN AUTHOR!”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO” Hifumi screamed for his life as the screens descended to read:

 

**CONGRATULATIONS!**

  
  


**HIFUMI YAMADA HAS BEEN VOTED GUILTY**

**TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!**

 

And Hifumi was gone.

 

**Watch Out, Princess Buuko! Great Monster Invasion!!**

 

Black and White. That’s what Hifumi looked like. His whole body was in a panel. He couldn’t move until someone’s eyes looked down. Flip. A bright pink girl in a neon dress was here now. Holding a sword. Hifumi instantly recognized her. Flip. He turned to see Monokuma. A giant Monokuma. With a laser beam, about to fire. Flip. Princess Buuko leaps forward to his aid! Fighting the Monokuma to the death piece by piece!! Flip. The two are at a stalemate, their divine powers too much for each other. He has to stop this! Flip. Hifumi starts running. Flip. One laser meets a sword, with the corpse of Hifumi Yamada caught in the middle.

 

For a second, no one said anything. They just stared, at the absurdity of it all. Of the robots, of Hifumi’ shocking dedication to manga. To the fact that three people had just died over the course of a few hours. To the fact that Celeste had started crying again.

“...Taeko?” Kirigiri tried, her boots leading her to the sobbing girl.

“That’s  _ not _ -” Taeko started, but Kirigiri’s arms were already around her.

“Why did you do this? Tell us everything.” She stated, and Taeko gulped down her tears.

“I hated this god-forsaken place more than anyone!” She laughed, her true feelings surfacing. “From day one all I did was lie.”

“Why money though?”

“The money was merely an add-on.” She swallowed. “I had been planning this ever since Byakuya’s murder. It wasn’t as easy as you made it sound.” Kirigiri motioned to move, Taeko gripped onto her trench coat to keep her in place.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why? I’m a horrible person! The only reason I even pretended to be someone I’m not is because I hated the place I lived.” Celeste sighed. “And that is  _ hardly _ an excuse.”

“You...hated your home life?”

“I hated  _ Japan _ .” Celeste hissed. “I can see the appeal, but my family was very traditional. So, I reinvented myself. My mother hated me for it, but I didn’t care. I took so many linguistics courses, did so much work, all while gambling. The life of Celestia Ludenberg was so harsh.” Taeko rambled, tears streaming freely again. “And now, Celestia Ludenberg killed two people. And now only Taeko Yasuhiro is left.” She sobbed, pushing her face further into Kirigiri’s shoulder.

“What are you going to do now?” She asked, pushing Taeko off of her.

“Celestia Ludenberg is turning over a new leaf.”

 

“No more lying.”

 

“No more stealing.”

 

“No more Celestia Ludenberg.”


	8. Mukuro Ikusaba: Traitor To The Nation-INTERLUDE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Real short thing while i work on the next chapter (its a doozy)

Mukuro Ikusaba was born on December 24th. Mukuro Ikusaba had two parents, with two last names, that lived in two cities, with two houses. Mukuro Ikusaba was tired.

 

\---

 

Mukuro Ikusaba was 3, and she was in Paris. Her red-haired mother tugged on her sleeve, trying to get her to move. Her mother wanted her to get on the plane already. But Mukuro Ikusaba didn’t want to. Mukuro Ikusaba ran away.

 

\---

 

Mukuro Ikusaba was 5, and she was in the middle east. There were simply too many companies around these parts, she often thought. Her sister was sitting across from her, bored as usual. Her parents were chiding her about two years ago, refusing to let that slide. Mukuro wanted to leave.

 

\---

 

Mukuro Ikusaba was 10, and she was confused. The people she’d met were very happy with her, but Mukuro wasn’t that happy with herself.

 

\---

 

Mukuro Ikusaba was 12, and her sister was explaining something to her. It seemed interesting, but Mukuro didn’t care. She would do whatever her sister wanted.

 

\---

 

Mukuro Ikusaba was 14, and she was walking into the school. She was happy.

 

\---

Mukuro Ikusaba was 16. Mukuro Ikusaba was 16. Mukuro Ikusaba was 16. Mukuro Ikusaba was 16.  **_Mukuro Ikusaba was 16._ **


	9. Bad Girl Online-DAILY LIFE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS LITERALLY THE WORST THING I'VE WRITTEN FOR THIS AU FUCK

The next morning, the Dining Hall felt so large. Celeste’s signature claw ring had disappeared, making its new home around Kirigiri’s neck attached to a chain. Sakura was there early, sipping a protein shake and discussing with Hina, both seemed downtrodden. Then, of course, there was Chihiro, who had absconded with coffee to the Bathhouse, most likely to check Alter Ego’s progress. They all agreed to head there later. Toko was face down on the floor, groaning to herself about who knows what. And that was it. There were only 7 students left. 7 students against 1 bear.

“You doing alright?” Hina questioned, shooting a look to Toko.

“HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” Toko responded, unmoving.

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“So, how are you all?” Makoto finally asked. They’d been sitting there in silence for minutes.

“Tired,” Sakura stated. “I take it everyone feels similarly?”

Everyone nodded. Except for Toko. Toko just groaned like she learned a test got moved up a week.

Celeste slammed her head on the table.

“You alright there?” Kirigiri questioned dully.

“Kill me now,” Celeste asked, her accent gone. Makoto supposed this was Taeko speaking.

“Celeste, I was wondering,” Hina started. “What would you like us to call you?”

“For now, Celeste is fine.” Taeko stated. “I’m not quite ready to stop being her.” Her accent returned.

“That’s fine.” Kirigiri stated. Celeste leaned into her side and snatched a piece of food from Kirigiri’s breakfast.

“I AM GOING TO HURL MYSELF INTO THE SEA” Toko screamed, her body jolting upwards. “THIS IS STUPID AND I HATE IT” Toko stared straight ahead, unmoving, for a few seconds, before her body flattened back down to the floor.

“Is she...okay?” Makoto questioned, Kirigiri shrugged as best she could with Celeste attached to her shoulder.

“H-hello.” Chihiro stuttered, walking into the dining hall. Her face was all but devoid of color, her eyes wide with some sort of fear. Makoto quickly recognized it was Despair. “If you could come with me-” and she walked away.

“Has, she made a new discovery?” Sakura wondered. “Via, you know who?”

Kirigiri was already out the door, Celeste and Makoto hot on her trail as they turned into the Bathhouse. Chihiro was sitting on the floor, the laptop opened in front of her.

“Good. You all came.” Chihiro sighed. Toko, Sakura, and Hina joined the group in seconds. “So, Alter Ego has not finished decrypting all the files, but is making great progress.” Chihiro’s face scrunched up. “But she found something, unsettling.” Chihiro turned the Laptop around, and Makoto’s heart skipped.

When he stared at that tinted green laptop, he saw the crystal-clear picture of three people. Sayaka Maizono, Mondo Oowada, and Hifumi Yamada. They were in a classroom, the three of them. Hifumi seemed to be tapping furiously on a phone as Sayaka laughed about something to someone off screen, and Mondo was posing as the centerpiece of the picture, flexing for someone behind the camera. Makoto’s body chilled as he looked closer. The Uniforms. They were all wearing the same uniform, down to a T. And, the classroom they were in, boasted a window. A wide-open, clean, window.

“I’m afraid they’re all similar too.” Chihiro sighed, tapping the screen as it showed another picture. This time showing Leon lounging around with none other than Hagakure and Hina. All wearing the same uniforms. All in a room with open windows and open doors.

“Is that...me?” Hina questioned, her hands shut tightly over her mouth.

Chihiro showed the next picture. It was..them. In this picture, there were 15 students. 15 alive, healthy students, in the same uniforms. In the same dining hall, with actual, real, open windows. And they were happy.

Chihiro typed something into the keyboard as Alter Ego sprung to life. “I have no idea how any of this makes sense, but I assumed you all would like to see them.”

Kirigiri stepped forward, typing into the keyboard.

“You’re very welcome!” Alter Ego cheered, her window promptly closing as Chihiro shoved the laptop away to work.

“What...was that?” Toko questioned. “That had to have been faked, right? Monokuma implanted that, right?”

“It’s too elaborate,” Chihiro stated. “He couldn’t put us in those clothes, in that place, together. He can’t have any photos of us out of context.”

“Let’s just deal with it tomorrow,” Kirigiri stated. “Another class trial ended, so the next floor of the school should be open.  “Let’s investigate first, and deal with this tomorrow.” and she was gone. Makoto huffed and followed suit, trailing the cloud of dust kicked up by someone’s obnoxious trenchcoat. He trudged up stair after stair, like a terrifying beat behind a tune of despair. As he stepped up onto the 4th floor, he sighed.

Makoto turned the corner directly to his left to find a large, regal looking room with double doors. He pushed open the oak doors, feeling out of place when he found himself in a massive Music Hall. His eyes searched the rows of the purple hall, and, crouching in front of a large piano, was Monokuma. His paws pressed keys in a surprisingly melodious fashion. It seems he had walked in just as the song was ending, as Monokuma jumped to the top of the Piano, bowing and waiting for applause.

Makoto’s eyes spotted the figure of Kirigiri standing in the purple seats. She stood up, her gloved hands clapping together to applaud Monokuma. Her face was emotionless. Monokuma dissappeared. Makoto backed out of the room.

 

Trudging down the hallway, Makoto felt like he had seen something private. He sighed, stopping by the next room on his list, a pair of steel doors labelled “[DATA ROOM]”. His eyes frantically looked from the sign to the door, his hands flying to the door. His euphoria was quickly cut off, as the door clicked and locked in place. He resigned to walk down the hallway. A chemistry lab should be interesting.

“Hina, are you seeing this?!” Yelled Sakura as Makoto entered the room, she was brandishing a container in front of her.

“I AM I AM!!” Hina shouted back, smiling with her own canister.

“What’s that?” Makoto asked cautiously, stepping into the room.

“THEY HAVE SOME OF THE HIGHEST GRADE PROTEIN HERE KNOWN TO MAN!” Hina yelled boisterously.

“How did Monokuma get his hands on this?! This would cause hundreds of dollars to get even an ounce of this!” Sakura yelled back. Makoto briefly wondered if that meant it was illegal.

“What about everything else on those shelves?” Makoto stated. “Aside from the Protein, I mean.”

“We didn’t check, we were too busy.” Sakura shot back.

“Obviously.” Makoto’s hand reached out for the cupboard, pulling it open to see a large row of bottles all labeled with poison.

“Arsenic?” Makoto said, taking a step back.

“Poison? Really?” Hina sighed. “It’s not even that surprising at this point.”

Sakura didn’t answer. She just narrowed her eyes.

 

When Makoto came outside, Kirigiri was waiting for him, fiddling with the door to one of the two rooms that remained unexplored.

“What’s that?” He asked. Kirigiri simply pointed to the clearly labeled sign above the door. “RECORDS LAB”. And just down the hall was the “HEADMASTERS OFFICE”. Makoto rushed down the hall.

“It’s locked. I tried it first.” Kirigiri stated, shoving against the door in frustration.

“HEY!” Shouted the familiar voice of Monokuma, appearing out of nowhere. “DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY OFFICE!” He marched down the hallway, shoving an accusatory paw in Makoto’s direction.

“I wasn’t going-”

“THAT'S IT! NEW RULE!” Monokuma spun on its heel and started away, shouting all the way. “NO DOORS MAY BE FORCED OPEN WITHOUT THE HEADMASTERS  **_EXPRESS_ ** PERMISSION!”

Makoto was tired.

Kirigiri was confused, for once.

 

The next day was like any other. The Dining hall had 6 students in it. 6 students.

“Any news?” Hina asked of Chihiro casually. It was obvious the programmer didn’t sleep last night. The usually subtle bags under her eyes were deep and prominent.

“Nope.” Chihiro was smart, Makoto knew that. But surely she would burn herself out soon enough.

“Kyoko and I investigated the 4th floor a little more,” Celeste stated. “Have any of you seen the poison?”

“Sadly, yes.”

“No????? I haven’t?????” Toko furiously asked. “What the hell????”

“The chem lab on the 4th floor. Aside from powders and medicine, there is a large amount of poison.” Kirigiri said.

“That’s...alarming.” Chihiro sighed.

“It’s poison,” Celeste said. “Of course it’s alarming. Monokuma is just trying to coax into murder.”  
“Well, no one is stupid enough to use poison,” Touko stated. “It’s too traceable.”

“How would you know how easily traceable poison is?” Hina tentatively questioned.”

“Hhhhhh” Toko groaned. “HHHHHHH”

“I’ll...drop it,” Hina stated.

 

_ Ding Dong Bing Bong _

 

“Hello, students! Could you all walk yourself down to the gymnasium? Thank you!”

 

“Again?!” Hina lamented, her body sinking into her chair.

“It’s just a part of our lives now,” Kirigiri stated. “At some point, it should stop being surprising.”

“What’s even left to be used as a motive?” Sakura asked, her body shoved against the window.

“We won’t know until we get to the gym.” Celeste stood up, walking to the door and pushing it open. Hina and Sakura left in a pair, Chihiro and Toko after them, and Makoto behind Kirigiri.

“Kirigiri?” Makoto questioned.

“Makoto.”

“Why do you wear gloves?”

She stared at her hands as if looking at some vile creature she’d seen on the bottom of her boot.

“Long story.” Makoto figured she wouldn’t remember. But he’d never seen her without those simple, studded black gloves.

He dropped it as the gymnasium opened and shut around them.

“WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME!!!” the bear shouted. “Welcome to another MOTIVE PRESENTATION!” 

“Can you just get it over with?” Toko stated. “I just wanna sleep for a while.”

“Miss Fukawa, I expected more from you!! I am shocked and appalled!!” It grinned. “But since you asked,”

Monokuma clapped, as the gym’s back wall flickered like a screen. Static flashing over its surface, it displayed a simple message really.

 

**FOUL PLAY IS AFOOT!!!!!** **  
****  
** **A** **_TRAITOR_ ** **LIES WITHIN HOPE’S PEAK HIGH SCHOOL!!!!**

 

It took Makoto a bit to process what the screen was saying. Six students left. Makoto Naegi, Kyoko Kirigiri, Celestia Ludenberg, Aoi Asahina, Sakura Oogami, Toko Fukawa, and Chihiro Fujisaki. One of these students was a traitor.

“Surprised, ain’t ‘cha?” Monokuma laughed. “Trust me, when I got the news too I was as surprised as you are! Just look at your faces!!!” 

“...Traitor?” Kirigiri asked, her voice confused.

“That’s right, Miss Kirigiri! One of these students has been my spy the ENTIRE time!! Isn’t it depressing??”

Chihiro didn’t talk, she just sank to the floor, gripping her head.

“C-Chihiro?” Hina asked, running to her side and sinking to the ground with her.

“What’s wrong Miss Fujisaki?” Monokuma mocked. “Our traitor is quite the star too! She’s been an accomplice in EVERY murder so far! Just under your nose!”

“ ‘She’s’?” Celeste questioned. “It’s a girl?”

“Wowie!!! I can’t believe you figured me out.” Monokuma deadpanned. “Yup! There’s only one boy here anyway. But one of you girls is a super secret TRAITOR!”

Makoto looked at his classmates. His eyes frantically darting from Celeste to Kirigiri to Sakura to Hina to Chihiro. One of these people was a traitor. A rat. A Spy.

 

Makoto’s eyes opened. Makoto’s eyes closed. Makoto forced his face into the pillow beneath him. Makoto’s eyes opened as his doorbell rung with a  _ Ding Dong. _ Makoto wanted to scream, yet he still got up. He got up and threw open his door to see Kyoko Kirigiri.

“Are you alive?”

“Somehow,” Makoto responded. He didn’t  _ feel _ alive. His body moved slowly, his eyes crusted.

“Good. Then you can come to the Dining Hall.” and she was gone. Makoto huffed, following her into the room.

“He’s fine.” She stated as she entered the hall, as Hina gave a massive sigh of relief.

“Now that we’re all here, I’d like to discuss our new motive,” Celeste spoke. “Specifically, how realistic it could be.”

“It’s insane to think that there has been a mole this whole thing,” Hina suggested.

“But it’s  _ Monokuma _ ,” Toko stated. “Isn’t he semi-reliable as a source of information?”

“That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t lie,” Chihiro suggested. “It wouldn’t be that out of character.”

“But he seems so attached to the rules.” Makoto cut in. “He lives off them, wouldn’t telling a lie about a motive be against those rules?”

“I don’t think he was  _ lying _ ,” Celeste stated. “Believe me, I know quite a bit about lies, and I wholeheartedly believe that the Traitor Motive is factual.”

“Then who is your prime suspect?” Sakura questioned.

Celeste didn’t talk. She looked at Makoto and spoke, “I do not know.”

“It doesn’t make sense.” Toko cut in. “It’s a girl, right? That only means Naeggi over there is free of suspicion.”

“That seems odd,” Chihiro added, staring at her cup of tea. “Maybe, it’s someone we’re not thinking of?”

“There’s only 5 viable suspect-” Celeste started.

“You mean,  _ her _ , don’t you Chihiro?” Kirigiri cut in. Her gloved hand around her chin.

“Yes. They are the only suspect I can think of.” Chihiro leaned back into her chair, stirring her tea instead of looking.

“Maybe, she’s being hacked? Or has some connection to the surveillance cameras? I don’t know how, but she's the most suspicious out of all of us.”

“Mayhaps we should all take a  _ bath _ soon.” Celeste offered, standing up. Kirigiri nodded, and they all headed to the waiting room, Chihiro taking the laptop into her lap immediately upon entering.

Her fingers typed something in, the computer blinking to life.

“As far as I know, my data collection methods are airtight.” Alter Ego spoke, making herself known. “Monokuma or the Mastermind could in no way access me unless I can’t detect them.”

“That’s not exactly reassuring…” Hina mumbled.

Chihiro typed something in. “I have collected no new data. I’m sorry to disappoint you all. Chihiro typed in some comforting words, and Alter Ego blinked away.

“So, as far as we know, Alter Ego couldn’t be the Traitor?” Sakura asked.

“Yes. As far as I know, there is absolutely no way that Alter Ego could have been-even unknowingly-been the traitor.” Chihiro confirmed. “Sorry to waste all your time with this,”

“It’s no problem.” Kirigiri stopped her. “We all need to know this, and it’s better to hear it in person.”

“That’s good.” Chihiro smiled. “I actually did want to use the bathhouse,”

“Me and Sakura will join you!” Hina cheered. “Anyone else?”

“I guess I don’t have anything better to do…” Toko immediately pushed Makoto out f the door, Celeste and Kirigiri stumbling out soon after.

“Well! that was useless.” Celeste sighed. “Well, I suppose I’ll be retiring for the day. I’ve eaten enough and I don’t wanna move more.” Celeste trotted off to the dorms, leaving just Kirigiri and Makoto left.

“I guess I’ll be going too-”

“Boy’s Bathroom. 2nd floor. Check out the storage closet.”

“Wh-” But Kirigiri was gone. She was already following Celeste, entering her room with the Gambler. Makoto stood there, dumbfounded.  _ Boy’s Bathroom. 2nd Floor. Storage Closet. _ Makoto bit his lip, limitless anxious scenarios flying through his head.

What if he got there and there was the Traitor? What if Kirigiri was the traitor?

What if it was a trap? What if Kirigiri wanted to kill him? That’s where Byakuya died, right?

What if the Mastermind was there? What if he died? Makoto’s worries ran through his hand as he walked up to 2nd-floor boy’s bathroom and pushed the door open. The room was pristine, no sign of Byakuya’s death was evident whatsoever.

He took tentative steps down to the storage closet to find a wall. He took a step closer. His hand reaching out, and touching the cool tile of the Closet’s wall. And the wall caved under his touch, flipping open. Makoto now understood how a boy could die via door as he entered the room hidden there.

It was simple enough, a small, gray room with limited lighting and a desk and chair. A large shelf lined the back wall, with various files. He moved to the back, running his hands along the files.  
There were volumes after volumes of yearbooks, all from Hope’s Peak. Classroom after Classroom lined this wall, but one particularly caught his attention.

“Hope’s Peak Academy, Student Registry?” Makoto wondered aloud. The thin binder was the only item not coated in dust, and as Makoto moved it, a small slip of paper fell from the item. He reached down, picking it open, and unfolding it.

“Don’t Forget. You Asked For This.” it read. Plain and simple. Bright bold words that one couldn’t look away from. What was this feeling in his head? He decided on Deja Vu. He’d read this before. Something about “You Asked For This” rung a major bell for him.

But the bell stopped ringing and his vision cut to black as a throbbing pain in the back of his head caused him to collapse to the ground.

 

When Makoto opened his eyes, the room was empty. All those files, gone. The note was gone. Everything was gone. Makoto didn’t care anymore. He just wanted to leave this place. He got to his feet, before his body sending him back to the ground.

He cursed under his breath as his whole head shook and hurt. Something hit him, and he had passed out. That couldn’t be good. He needed sleep. That’s what he needed.

He managed to turn, dragging himself back through the bathroom, and out the door, his breaths deep and grueling. 

“HAHH!” Came a sound from far off. A sound he didn’t want to hear. He ignored it.

“PUHUHUHU…” laughed the voices from down the hall. 

Makoto immeaditly realized he was moving when his head felt like splitting open. He was following the sounds of fighting and violence, leading him to the gym. The door was shaking almost as much as Makoto. His hand reached out and hooked itself on the door’s window, peeking in to see a sight that was nigh unbelievable.

Sakura Oogami was fighting a small robot. A small Robot named Monokuma.

“Puhuhuhu…” Monokuma giggled. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing…?”

“SHUT UP!” Sakura fired back.

“I asked you a question! How dare you defy me...? This wasn't part of the deal, Miss Oogami!” Monokuma yelled, his small body bouncing with annoyance.

“I don’t care what you do to me!” Sakura shouted back. “I’m going to  _ betray _ you!  _ I WON’T BE YOUR TRAITOR ANYMORE!” _

  
  


_ Ding Dong. Ding Dong. Ding Dong. _

 

Makoto didn’t want to wake up today. He was tired, his body refusing to move. Yet, what was undeniably a doorbell still rung, and Makoto turned, falling unceremoniously onto the floor. His head still hurt. He didn’t want to move.

_ Ding Dong. Ding Dong. Ding Dong. _

 

Fine, he’s coming goddamnit. He tugged himself over to the door and was greeted by a frantic Kirigiri.

“Kirigiri! Can y-”

“Later. Now follow me.” Kirigiri dashed away, making Makoto sigh as he realized he would need to run.

He pushed through the excruciating pain that coursed through his body as he trailed Kirigiri down the hall and up the stairs to the Rec Room.

“What’s going on?” He asked futilely to Hina and Kirigiri, waiting for him in front of the velvet doors.

“It’s Sakura!” Makoto’s brain flashed back to last night, to Sakura.

“What about her?”

“She’s in the Rec Room. She’s not moving.” Makoto’s heart went into overdrive as Hina fiddled with the door to the Rec Room.

“I happened to notice her through the window,” Hina started. “But I couldn't get the door open and she wouldn’t respond!”

“Well, if the room is locked, we can’t force our way in. We’d be breaking a rule. We can’t force open locked doors.” Makoto responded.

“It’s not locked. The Rec Room doesn’t have a lock.” Kirigiri pointed to the door, and sure enough, no keyhole accompianed the room’s handle. “As far as I can tell, the rule doesn’t apply.” And just like that, Kirigiri delivered a swift and powerful kick to the door, the room’s entrance splitting open.

Makoto’s eyes widened. Hina was already running to Sakura, tears falling from her eyes. Makoto tentatively followed the swimmer, his body falling to the ground when he felt cold death on the body of Sakura Oogami, the Ultimate Martial Artist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KILL ME THIS IS SO BAD?? ITS CHOPPY AND SO FUCKING RUSHED.


	10. Bad Girl Online-DEADLY LIFE

“OWO!!! A BODY HAS BEEN DISCOVERED!”

 

Kirigiri was already at work. Hina was sobbing. And Makoto was somewhere in the middle, his body motionless, his face drained of color.

“Sakura…” Hina whispered. “Sakura, Sakura why,” Hina stumbled over to her body, tears freely pouring out of her eyes. “I have to go get...everyone.” Hina walked out of the room, and after a few minutes, returned with Chihiro and Toko.

“Sakura!” Shouted Chihiro, coming into the room with Toko and Celeste on her tail.

“Ah…” Celeste sighed, giving a sad look to the doors and Sakura.

“What-what-what-what-WHAATTTT???” Toko-apparently Syo-rapidly questioned. “What’s going on right here????”

Syo was talking, but Makoto couldn’t hear. He could only look. Look at Sakura’s body.

“Who.” Hina spat. Her voice flaming with anger. “Who killed her?!”

“It had to have been one of us. Come now, speak up.” Celeste stated.

“SHUT UP! FOR ALL I KNOW, IT WAS YOU CELESTE!” Celeste gasped, shocked, as Hina jabbed a finger in her face.

“Pardon me?” Celeste questioned. “But why on earth would I kill Sakura?”

“Celeste,” Kirigiri stated, and the Gambler backed off.

Makoto pondered in himself. Who could have done it? No one had a motive. The only motive was the Traitor. “Could, the Traitor have done it?”

“Exactly! I think it’s Celeste!” Hina shouted back.

“You are going to accuse me without even beginning an investigation? That seems rather irresponsible, does it not?” Celeste pondered, stepping back towards the door.

“I DON’T NEED AN INVESTIGATION! IT WAS YOU! I’M 100% SURE!” Hina shouted.

“You sure ‘bout that?” Monokuma mewled, peeking out from behind the arcade machine. “Jeez, I didn’t know accusations are the same as the truth!”

“Get out of here! You shouldn’t be near Sakura!” Hina responded, furiously waving at the bear. “What are you even doing here?!”

“Isn't it obvious? I'm here to hand out my little murder flyer!” Monokuma whipped out a fresh Monokuma file, waddling over to Kirigiri and handed it to her. “And don’t get so worked up, Miss Asahina! This kind of thing just sort of happens every now and then. Welp, I’ll be off! Bye Bye!!!” And he was gone.

Hina sank to her knees, her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach as she sobbed to no one in particular.

Kirigiri didn’t look at Hina, just walked past her to Sakura. “As of right now, we need to focus on the investigation. Would anyone like to guard Sakura’s body?” Kirigiri offered, and Makoto was sure she was doing it for Hina. They’ve never appointed guards before. Kirigiri wanted to give Hina hope. Make her important in discovering who killed the girl Hina had loved.

“I’ll do it.” Hina stood up, tears stopping in her eyes. “I want to be here for her.”

“I recommend that Syo and Chihiro should all investigate elsewhere,” Celeste stated. “I’m afraid of Syo messing with the case.

“You know what?? That’s fair,” Syo turned on her heel, pushing Chihiro out of the room.

“Very well.” She adjusted her gloves, hands moving towards Sakura. “Shall we begin?”

Makoto gave a sad look at Hina. He figured Kirigiri’s question was more of a command. They didn’t have a choice in starting yet another investigation.

“Kyoko,” Celeste stated. “Shall I read the file this time?” Kirigiri wordlessly handed Celeste the Monokuma file, as she cleared her throat and booted up the file.

“Victim: Sakura Oogami. Time of Death: 12:00 AM. Height: 6'7". Weight: 290 lbs. Chest Size: 32 in. Blood Type: A.” Celeste narrowed her vision. “Murder Weapon: There are no visible injuries, but the victim has recently coughed up blood.”

“Coughed...up blood?” Hina wondered aloud. “But what would make her do that?”

“I have a feeling this will be more challenging than the previous cases,” Kirigiri stated.

“How so?” Celeste asked.

“Think about it. The culprit specifically killed Sakura inside of this room. They specifically killed Sakura than blocked up the door, then somehow escaped from the Rec Room after killing her.” Kirigiri’s expression twisted into something between disgust and morbid curiosity. “It’s a Locked Room Murder,” she whispered under her breath.

“Locked, room murder?” Makoto questioned aloud.

“A locked room murder is a very specific type of murder to execute.” Kirigiri rambled. “There are millions of ways to carry one out, but the killer almost always uses extremely specific and convoluted methods.” Her face was lit up. What kind of Talent would make someone drive them to be excited by investigating a crime? Makoto briefly wondered if she was a killer in a past life.

“There are quite a lot of possibilities it seems,” Celeste stated. “I’m assuming that the killer didn’t set up some kind of Goldbergian mechanism to kill Sakura.”

“There aren’t guns or arrows in the warehouse, the killer wouldn’t be able to use it,” Makoto responded.

“Maybe, the killer was hiding here? Then pretended to join the group in all the confusion?” Hina hummed. That seemed to be the most feasible.

“Aside from that, I want to start by investigating Sakura’s body. Is that okay with you, Hina?” Hina nodded slightly, and Kirigiri got to work, She tilted Sakura’s head up, investigating her closed eyes. “The victim has a thin line of blood trailing down her chin.”

“The file DID say she was coughing up blood…” Hina grimaced.

“What I’m more confused about, is how would someone _kill_ the Ultimate Martial Artist?” Makoto offered.

“True, she definitely would not go down without a fight.”

“And she clearly didn’t,” Kirigiri stated, her eyes searching around Sakura’s body. She knelt down and held up a canister. “Is this a protein shake?” Glass shards from the door Kirigiri kicked surrounded it.

“Mmm-hmm,” Hina mumbled. “Sakura always uses that kind of bottle.”

Kirigiri twisted off the cap. “It’s empty.”

“So she drank all of it. We all know how much she loved protein,”

“That's strange…” Celeste intervened, snatching the shake from Kirigiri’s hand. “This is labeled ‘CHEM A-2.’ Did she take this from the chem lab?”

“But, she always got those bottles from the warehouse and dining hall!” H ina refuted.

“Hmmm…” Kirigiri gave a thoughtful look out the door than turned to Makoto. “Maybe it would be best if you left for now. Find Chihiro and Syo, reconvene from there. I’ll stay here with Hina and Celes and investigate further.”

“Why not come with me?”

“I’m on Guard Duty, remember?” She stated. She was still doing this for Hina’s sake. For Hina’s sake, he’d leave. Makoto exited the rec room and began the slow walk towards the chem lab, as that was probably a good place to start.

 

As he pushed open the doors, he saw the room in disarray.

“Ah-!” Chihiro gasped, turning on her heel. “Hello, Makoto! You scared me half to death…” Makoto looked towards a set of three cabinets, which were in shambles. Golden powder coated the floor, and the cabinet doors were in shambles.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Egg boy!” Syo shouted, leaning in front of the golden powder spilled all over the floor. Deciding to ignore whatever the fuck ‘Egg Boy’ meant, he approached her.

“What is it, Syo?” his voice unintentionally sounded like a tired grade school teacher, which he figured was appropriate anyway.

“Some fucking idiot messed up! That one’s labeled wrong!” Syo, in the flash of an eye, snatched up a bottle and twirled it around. “This thing is labeled ‘C’, yet it’s on the ‘A’ shelf! Which are all Reagents anyway!”

“What are Reagents?” Chihiro cut in, leaning over the powder.

“Dumbass!! Do you ever see those phony-ass science experiments on TV? The reagents are the shit that makes it all powder or explodes! They cause chemical reactions!”

“Ah, so someone misplaced one of the chemicals from group C?” Makoto’s eyes turned to the third shelf. “What’s even on there?”

“Oh, it’s just more poison!” Syo laughed. “I choose to believe one of us just can’t read, and put something in the wrong place,”

Makoto knelt down as Syo cackled and rambled. His eyes spotted a bottle. A broken brown bottle labeled ‘C-4’.

“I was here earlier, and uh, this room wasn’t like this earlier today,” Chihiro mumbled.

“Huh? So, earlier today, all of this wasn’t spilled…” Makoto wondered aloud. “So someone spilled powder from the poisonous shelf early this morning,”

“Yo!!! We got fuckin’ footprints!!” Syo shouted, her finger jabbed straight down. He followed the path of her finger, to see a few sets of footprints at the leftmost side of the powder, only near the A shelf.

“Why only over there, though?” Chihiro cut in. “If someone came here for poison, they would need access to the C shelf, right?”

“Nope Nope that’s WRONG!!” Syo shouted. “Remember the poison in the A shelf????”

“But, why would someone have misplaced a poisonous bottle?” Chihiro questioned.

“I’m TELLING YOU, Celeste is ILLITERATE!!” Makoto decided that this was enough evidence, but he mostly didn’t want to hear a serial killer’s crackpot theories.

 

“Makoto,” Kirigiri stated as he returned to the rec room. “Come look at this.”

“I-” Makoto didn’t want to touch a dead body.

“I get it. I can investigate for you. Just come look at this.” Kirigiri was emotionless as she inspected the body.

“Why are you so good at this?”

Kirigiri didn’t respond. She just snapped her fingers and jabbed at her shoe.

Yellow powder. Yellow powder coated the top of her shoe. The same yellow powder from the chem lab.

 

“Ahem! Ahem! Ahem! Attention all students, but your investigation was just sooooo boring!! Please report to the Symbol of Strength statue in the entrance hall!! Thank you!”

 

But it was already time. There wasn’t time to explain, there wasn’t time to discover the locked room mystery, there wasn’t enough time. There wasn’t enough time as they walked to the statue. There wasn’t enough time as the elevator plummetted downward. There wasn’t enough time to survive. But Makoto would make time to survive.

“Hmm... Just the six of you, huh? But that’s just too few!” Monokuma whined. “I don’t want the Killing Game to be over yet though!!!”

“Don’t say that like this isn’t all your fault!” Hina shouted.

“Puhuhuhuhu, I wonder what will happen! Will this class trial end with one less student? Or, will your killing school life end all together?!”

The students lined up again. They lined up in the same places and staring each other down.

“Well! Let’s begin again and start with a basic ex-” Monokuma stopped itself. “Nah, I don’t wanna,”

“W-what?” Makoto questioned. “What do you mean you don’t want to?”

“Christ! Mr. Naegi, you try saying the same 5 lines!! But fine, if it means that much to you-” Monokuma inhaled. “Overthecourseyouwilldebatethetrueidentityofthekillerandthenyouwillvotefortheblackenedifyouvoterightonlytheblackenedwillbeexecuteifyouvotewrongthenallbuttheblackenedwillbeexecutedallowingthemto gofreewillyouchoosetherightchoiceorthehorriblywrongoneYADADADADA ARE YOU HAPPY NOW????”

Not exactly, but he supposed that it was enough. Monokuma deflated into his throne, kicking his legs absently.

“Let’s go over what we already know.” Kirigiri started.

“Sakura had vomited blood, and that is most likely related to her cause of death,” Celeste remarked. “In fact, we even found blood on her lips.”

“It couldn’t have been related to any violence, as the Monokuma file does not list any injuries, and specifically remarks that she ‘Vomited Blood’,” Kirigiri stated.

“But, what could’ve caused her death?” Hina asked. “I just figured she’d been attacked!”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Honey Buns!!!” Syo cheered.

“I have standards, Syo.”

Syo whined but quickly shook it off. “I’m guessing she was poisoned!!!”

“Poisoned?” Makoto asked.

“She was poisoned...? It isn't possible!” Chihiro yelled. “What proof do you have?”

“BITCH, YOU WERE THERE!!!” Syo groaned. “Okay, okay, okokokokok, but remember the shelves in the Chem Lab??”

“Ah! Yes, it was in shambles!” Makoto responded, suddenly remembering.

“Let me explain it to the goth chicks and the donut girl just REEEAL quick.” Syo proudly grinned. “Up in the Chem Lab, there are three shelves. Labeled ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’.”

“The A shelf has normal ass Reagents! Just normal shit that helps you make chemical reactions!”

“How do you even know all of this?” Makoto asked.

“I’m a Serial Killer! You gotta branch out and experience other shit before you decide on an MO!”

“Sorry, continue,”

“And in the C shelf, there are tons of POISONS! POISONS! POISONS!!!” Syo stated. “In particular, one of the ‘C’ poisons was located in the A cabinet!”

“And,” Chihiro added. “A bottle of ‘C’ poison was spilled all over the floor. There was a lot of yellow powder,”

“And there were footprints all over the left side of the powder. Exclusively near the A shelf.”

“But that simply makes no sense,” Celeste stated. “Why on earth would there be Poison mixed in with additives and reagents?”

“See, see see, I’ll show you!” Syo grabbed up the half-full poison bottle and shoved it to her lips.

“SYO! SYO, NO!” Chihiro screamed. Syo gulped down the poison, wiping off her lips.

“BLECK! That shit tasted horrible,” Syo grimaced and shook her head. But she didn’t fall over, she didn’t scream, or choke. She was just, okay.

“Come on! Someone get her to spit out the poison! Please, someone!”

“Don’t get your panties into a twist!” Syo remarked. “This shit isn’t so High-Quality…”

“What?” Hina wondered aloud.

“You said this was High-Quality! Donuts, this shit is BAD!” She tossed the bottle back on the table, and it was shortly snatched up by Kirigiri. She scraped out a bit of the content with one finger. She touched her finger to her tongue, and her eyes widened.

“It’s...Protein Powder.” Kirigiri realized.

“What?”

“YUP!!!” Syo responded. “So, Egg boy! Why do you think the poison and the reagent were swapped out??”

“I…”

“The protein shake,” Hina stated. “It was in the protein shake.”

“So, someone, swapped out the bottle with Sakura’s protein with poison? So she took it and drank the poison?” Chihiro restated.

“That’s a running theory! Make sure you can keep up, babey!-ACHOO!” Syo fell back as she sneezed, and Toko wandered back up.

“Where am I? Why am I here? WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!” Toko’s hands patted her collar to put on the glasses Syo had cast aside, then returned to braiding her hair back into place.

“We’ll explain later.” Celeste chided.

“I hate you, I hate this.”

“But, all of that aside, once the poison was in the Protein Shake, all the culprit would’ve needed to do was hand her the shake, and she would’ve drunk it happily.” Celeste smiled, her hands poised under her chin.

“But, when did someone go and get the poison?” Kirigiri offered back up.”

“, Earlier this morning I saw the chem lab, and the powder wasn’t there, neither were the footprints!” Chihiro stated.

“And, the footprints were in front of the A cabinet, where we found the poison. The culprit must have gone to the A cabinet, and swapped the poison and protein, leaving footprints.” Makoto stated.

“I can compare the footprints in the evidence photos as well! It will be simp-”

“I did it. It was me.” Hina cut Kirigiri of, her face wearing a small frown.

“Hina? Hina what are you saying?” Chihiro questioned, tears welling up in her eyes.

“You're gonna find me out anyway.” She scoffed. “I'd rather you hear it straight from me, ya know?”

“But! But that means that you killed-”

“I did. I killed her. Execute me.”

“Those footprints are unmistakably from sneakers.” Kirigiri looked at Hina. “I wear boots, Celeste wears heels, Chihiro and Toko wear flats, that only leaves Hina and Makoto.”

“And I’m telling you, I did it!” Hina shouted.

“But that doesn’t make sense.” Celeste deadpanned, her accent gone.

“What? What are you saying?”

“You loved her. Why on earth would you kill her? This isn’t some Yandere Manga. You obviously wouldn’t do such a thing out of love.” Celeste glared right through Hina, her eyes seeming to stab into Hina.

“I, I used abused that to kill her! Yeah, I got so close to her and then killed her.” Hina shouted, her hands now firmly planted on her podium.

“But...Hina…” Chihiro’s voice wobbled. “Why? Did you really do it? Hina, please, Hina tell me why you did it.” Chihiro sobbed into her sleeve, looking at Hina with such pain.

“She was...afraid. She was in the rec room with me, and she asked me to get her some Protein. And that’s when I realized that this was my chance. So I got the poison and fed it to her. I killed her.”

“No. You didn’t.” Kirigiri stated.

“What? I just told you how I did it, why are you still fighting me on this?!” Hina shouted, leaning over her podium.

“Kyoko, you can’t just blindly trust people. This is a killing game.”

“Do not misunderstand me.” Kirigiri held a hand in the generic direction of Celeste. “I don’t have some strange sentimentalism. But since there is still one mystery we haven’t uncovered, I will remain skeptical.”

“You’re talking about the Locked Room problem, correct?” Celestia asked, cocking her head.

“W-well, That doesn’t matter! I’m guilty! Since when does that mean I have to tell you everything?!”

“It doesn’t. But the fact you won’t tell me is why I don’t think you did it.”

“Why doubt her? She’s come clean. She’s explained how she did it.” Celeste urged.

“I refuse to vote for Hina until I’ve heard the truth behind the locked room,” Kirigiri stated.

“Even beyond that, there is simply too much that doesn’t fit.” Makoto wondered. “Why leave such an obvious clue like footprints. It’s too clear. Too easy.”

“I was just jittery! I was going to kill Sakura, after all, so no wonder I just, missed my footprints!”

“So you just, didn’t notice?”

“What could I have done? I just didn’t see them.”

“I want a descriptive and clear run-down of how you got the poison. And how you killed Sakura.”

“Well, Well I got went right away to the C shelf.”

“And then you dropped the poison?”

“Yeah, Yeah I dropped it just then.”

“Then I got a random bottle from the A shelf and switched ‘em. Then I put poison in the protein shake. But I accidentally put the bottle filled with protein powder back on the wrong shelf. That’s all.”

“That doesn’t make sense!” Makoto shouted once Hina had finished. “The footprints in the powder only appeared in front of Shelf A. But if we are to believe your story, then there would have been more footprints!” Makoto furiously refuted.

“Ah!-”

“What? So, Hina...didn’t do it?” Chihiro mumbled,

“All she did was lie to us. Full stop.” Kirigiri stated, her voice as clear as day.

“No! No, I’m guilty, you see-”

“Enough. I also have new evidence to submit.” Kirigiri was quick to cut her off.

“New evidence?” Hina asked, her face sunken and her eyes wide.

“Syo handed it to me.” She grabbed the bottle of powder again, taking out a small glass shard.

“Is that…” Celeste started.

“From the window, I kicked open, yes.” Kirigiri plainly said, her hand on her chin. “But how did the glass get into the bottle?”

“Well,” Makoto pondered. “The bottle was still in the chem lab when we found Sakura.”

“So, in reality, the bottle most definitely wormed its way int the Rec Room,” Celeste added.

“It was there at least until the room was unlocked when Kirigiri broke in,” Makoto stated, turning to Kirigiri.

“The bottle then somehow got moved back to the shelf in the chem lab. And the protein was planted in the rec room.” Kirigiri smiled another excited smile. “When it comes to that protein can, there's not a doubt in my mind! Until the locked room mystery was unlocked, it absolutely was not in there!”

“That is simply asinine,” Celeste stated. “How could it even have gotten in there? We all would’ve seen it.”

“But glass was all over the room, and the shake was on _top_ of the glass.” Makoto fired back.

“But, then why would she drink the poisoned protein?” Chihiro questioned. “I thought she was tricked, right?”

“No. She drank it. She drank it knowing exactly what it was.” Kirigiri clarified, her excited smile growing.

“Just tell us how it happened, please!” Celeste pleaded.

“Before that, we need to establish who got the poison and took it to the rec room.”

Who could’ve done it? There was only one clear answer. She knew what was in the poison. She knew what she was about to do. “Sakura got the poison.”

“What are you talking about?!” Hina furiously asked. “There is no goddamn way!”

“We know for a fact she went to the chem lab, Hina,” Kirigiri stated.

“You’re lying. You’re lying, STOP FUCKING LYING!” Hina screamed. “YOU DON’T HAVE ANY PROOF THAT SAKURA TOOK THAT POISON KNOWING WHAT IT WAS!”

“No. We do. We found _yellow powder_ on her shoe.” Makoto stated, his body shaking.

“...what?” Hina asked, her eyes welling up with tears. “What?”

“There was powder on her shoe. The very same powder from the chem lab.”

“The person who spilled the powder wasn’t Hina, it was Sakura, and she spilled it on her shoe,” Kirigiri stated, calming her grin.

“But we still haven’t figured out why she went to the C shelf,” Chihiro stated.

“For poison. It’s all the section contained.” Celeste clarified.

“No! It was me! The poison--!!”  
“You didn’t kill Sakura,” Kirigiri stated. “Sakura killed herself.”

Hina didn’t have a rebuttal. She just stood there. Stood there and stared. Her eyes fell, tears spilling onto the podium, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed. So she already knew the truth.

“She created the locked room because she didn’t want opposition. She sat there and drank the poison in her locked room. She dropped the bottle, and the room remained untouched until someone took it from the room.” Kirigiri rambled.

“And that someone was you, Hina.”

“Ngh-” Hina groaned, her hands clutching her sleeves.

“When we first found her, you walked straight up to her and took the bottle while you cried,” Makoto stated.

“Because you already knew she was dead. When you left to get the others, you switched the bottles.” Kirigiri’s words came out as facts. She knew the truth.

“No...I...killed her…”

“Give it up, Hina. Sakura killed herself.”

“Welp! Seems like this class trial is OVER.” Monokuma cheered from his throne. “We got to some pretty juicy places this time, such a GRRRREAT performance! But sadly, it’s VOTING TIME!!!”

Makoto’s eyes looked down at his buttons, ready to deliver a death sentence. His finger slid over to the button labeled **4.**

“Who will be chosen?! Right or Wrong?! Black or White?!” The roulette screen descended, the lever switched, and the arrows pointing to, “THE BLACKENED IS!!!!”

 

“SAKURA OOGAMI!! WOW!!! GOT IT IN ONE!!”

 

“N-no! That’s wrong!” Hina yelled.

“Hina, Monokuma just confirmed you didn’t do it.”

“I! DON’T! CARE!” Hina sank to the floor, her hands balling into fists and grabbing at her hair. “Sakura...she didn’t deserve this…”

“But why did you do it?”

“She didn’t have another choice! She…”

“What are you talking about.”

“She was the Traitor. Sakura was the traitor and she didn’t deserve it.”

“What?” Celeste stated.

“She told me last night. She came into my room, slumped on my bed, and told me her plan.” Hina sobbed without holding back, on the floor, curling in on herself. “She didn’t want to help Monokuma anymore...She didn’t, she didn’t want to be a traitor anymore, so she decided to stop helping.”

“Ah…” Makoto sighed, his hand going to his mouth.

“She thought it was her fault. She thought everything was her fault...I wanted to show her it wasn’t...she didn’t have to do it..but...I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t...save her…”

“I am SO sorry to interrupt your little tear-jerker? But we got a punishment time to get to, sweetie!” Monokuma cheered. “Plus, do you think she died hating you? Died hating herself? Do you REEEALLLY think that’s what she was thinking?”

“W-what?” Hina questioned.

“Here, let’s watch a little chick flick before the punishment. Let’s watch her Suicide note!” The screen flicked away. And a voice came on.

 

_“My love Hina, There's something I have to tell you. I hate to do it like this, but you need to know. This is...my final wish.”_

_“As you know, I've been giving information to the one who's imprisoned you here. It was our third night in this strange school that the mastermind came to see me, just after Leon’s execution. You see, the mastermind took control of my family's dojo, and demanded I become their tool. You might not see the importance of a dojo, but my family has watched over it for over 300 years. I couldn't let it be destroyed under my watch. So even if it meant my own life, I had to protect it. That's how I saw things…”_

_“However, that was my greatest weakness. And because of that, I made the mistake of giving in to the mastermind. And what the mastermind wanted from me was nothing less...than murder. They were probably worried that until the first murder had happened, nothing would move forward. But what neither the mastermind nor I expected...was the incident involving Sayaka. At that point, the plan changed. The mastermind told me to hold off--to wait until we reached another stalemate.”_

_“However, as I lived here with all of you... As I lived here with Hina...my resolve began to weaken. Watching everyone fight with such_ **_despair_ ** _, trying so desperately to stay alive...I saw the weakness in my own heart, the mistake of succumbing to the mastermind. And more than anything...I cannot betray those who would call me their friend. That's how I came to feel.”_

_“My own situation has started having an effect on more people than just me... Which is exactly what the mastermind wanted when they revealed my betrayal.”_

_“My betrayal brought suspicion, disharmony... The mastermind knew that eventually, it would escalate into someone murdering someone else.”_

_“Of course, I'm still responsible for that, as well. I have an obligation to get this situation under control. And to fulfill that obligation, I've decided to do as the mastermind has commanded. I will do as I was told, and commit murder. But I've decided... The one I'm going to kill is...myself.”_

_“If the mastermind demands that I kill someone, then that someone will be me. Then my dojo will be safe, and above all else, none of you will have to kill anyone. When I die, the source of conflict among you all died with me. For that, I'm willing to give up my life.”_

_“If it can save you, then sacrificing my own life could have no greater meaning. Whatever you think of me, please know that you all are my most treasured friends... I've never had people like you in my life…”_

_“Finally, Hina, my love, I’ve felt like I’ve known you forever, and I am sorry. The reason I didn't tell you any of this is because I knew you would try to stop me. I'm really, truly sorry. But please, do not mourn me. Just survive for me. Make it out of here alive.”_

 

“JEEZ LOUISE! Boring isn’t it?!” Monokuma laughed from his throne over the sound of Hina’s sobs.

“Sakura...Sakura...Sakura…”

“In the end, her death was meaningless! She wanted to stop you from killing each other, but look where that got her!”

“But for now, let’s get to what everyone’s been waiting for.” What everyone had been waiting for? “Let’s give it everything we’ve got! ITT'S PUNISHMENT TIME!”

But no one could have been the blackened. Sakura was already dead, right? Right? Who could Monokuma kill? The screen showed no video of congratulations, but instead read proudly:

 

**EXCAVATOR DESTROYER!**

 

The screen flickered to life, and a pair of green shaded eyes on a slim green laptop stared out at nothing. Alter Ego sat on a literal chopping block, with a massive Excavating machine controlled by Monokuma was behind her. It’s excavator reached up, then down, it’s steel teeth digging into the frail laptop, shattering it. Then again, and again, and again, and again. The excavator came up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down, the laptop wasn’t even green anymore. It was just a block. A block that used to be Alter Ego.

 

“No. No, No, No NONONONONONO!!!” Chihiro screamed, dashing towards the screen. “NO!!!”

“How did you…”

“Oh PUH-LEEZ!!” Monokuma chuckled. “Did you seriously think that that laptop slipped under my radar??? It was the most OBVIOUS thing ever! Saw it coming a mile away!!”

“We failed…” Toko mumbled. “We failed, didn’t we?”

“Oh honey,” Monokuma waved. “You never even had a chance!”

 

\---

 

Sleep didn’t come for Makoto that night. He was just asleep in his room. Asleep, or trying to be.

“Wa….p…” Makoto groaned as the voice came into his head.

“Ma...to…” His eyes shot open and his body shot to the back of his bed as he saw Kyoko Kirigiri standing at the foot of his bed.

“Hi. Come with me to the Data Center. I need to show you something.” Makoto was still in shock and didn’t quite process her exact plan, but decided that she was probably right, whatever she was doing. Makoto quickly tugged on a shirt and started off, as she was already gone. When he finally made his way up all the stairs, it was so many stairs, he could see the blue doors to the Data Center, but no Kirigiri.

“Come on, man…” he mumbled. For curiosity's sake, he tried the door again.

“JESUS CHRIST!!!” Monokuma was there when he turned around. “WHY THE HELL ARE YOU UP SO LATE! BEARS GET TIRED TOO!!!”

“Sorry, Monokuma,”

“JUST GO TO SLEEP!! WHAT IS W R O N G WITH YOU TEENAGERS!”

“Why are you here?” Kirigiri deadpanned as she approached them.

“NRGGGHHHH I FUCKING GIVE UP! JUST GO TO SLEEP YOU HEATHENS!” and he was gone.

“Sure, let’s go Makoto.”

“Wait but,”

“Let’s go.” And she was off. Makoto followed her back down all the stairs, so many stairs, and arrived at the Inn area. He was inches away from his door when Kirigiri sidled up next to him and spoke,

 

“Mukuro Ikusaba.”

 

“The sixteenth student, lying hidden somewhere in this school... The one they call the Ultimate Despair,”

 

“Watch out for her, OK?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just like, ignore sakura's suicide note, i made some edits to it but aside from that its , a dIRECT rip from dr1


	11. The Hanged Man-DAILY LIFE

Makoto didn’t get out of bed the next day. The name just kept playing, over and over again. Mukuro Ikusaba. Mukuro Ikusaba. Mukuro Ikusaba. Mukuro Ikusaba. The day after Alter Ego’s execution, and the day after the 4th class trial. It would be 3 days before the next death. Before the next body. Mukuro Ikusaba. Mukuro Ikusaba. Mukuro Ikusaba. He was supposed to watch out for Mukuro Ikusaba.

But he had too, didn’t he? Makoto changed his hoodie, he had the same three in his closet anyway, and slowly walked out of the room. 

“You’re finally here?” Celeste stated upon his entry. “We were all waiting for you before we began our investigation of the 5th floor.”

“I don’t want to,” Chihiro’s voice was low, clearly still mourning the loss of Alter Ego.

“You don’t have to,” Celeste responded. “But no matter what, Makoto, Kyoko and I will investigate the 5th floor. You three can sit it out if you want.”

“Like hell I’m not coming!” Toko yelled. “I need to know what’s going on up there!”

“Yeah. I’ll do what Sakura asked me to and survive.” Hina smiled, walking up to the rest of the group.

“Don’t feel like you need to help us, Chihiro,” Kirigiri stated. “If you don’t feel like you can make it, that’s fine.”

Chihiro nodded her approval, then proceeded to nurse a cup of coffee.

 

The newly opened staircase led into a world of calming blues, plants sparsely placed around the edges of the floor.

“Let’s split up,” Celeste stated. “This floor seems to house several large rooms, so it’s important to be efficient.”

This was probably the best opportunity for him to catch Kirigiri alone to ask her about what happened last night. As he looked around the rooms, he saw Kirigiri disappear into a set of wooden sliding doors, which he promptly followed her into.

Inside was what seemed to be a Dojo. Between the purpose of the room, and the pretty pink Sakura trees lining the walls, it almost felt like he was being taunted.

“Kirigiri?” Makoto tried, tentatively stepping towards her.

She didn’t respond, just caught a leaf in her hand.

“Kirigiri? Can I talk to you?”

“I will not say anything.” She sighed, turning around. She locked eyes with Makoto, nudging her head towards the surveillance camera. Whoever Mukuro Ikusaba was, the Mastermind could not know about her. But why? Why was he supposed to watch out for Mukuro Ikusaba?

“But-”

“Our conversation is over, Makoto.” Kirigiri’s violet eyes burned holes through Makoto’s head. “Come on, there’s still more to see.” And she was gone. Eyeing the wooden lockers that were spaced between the trees, Makoto followed her out the door.

Across the hall from the Dojo, was a pair of immaculate white doors with bright light pouring from their small windows. Makoto was like a moth, he swarmed towards it, determined to find out what was inside.

 

When he entered, he was certainly not expecting a light blue sky. A light blue sky that was too bright to be real.

“Are you wondering about the sky?” Hina’s voice said. His eyes followed the sound to see her lying on her back in front of massive plants. “It's just a painting, just like the dining hall. But the plants are all real!” Hina ended her statement with false excitement, desperately trying to make herself seem happy.

Makoto’s eyes traced around the room, his eyes being caught by an absolutely enormous flower. It’s petals orange and yellow in color with a white and black spotted stamen. It was at least 10 times Makoto’s size, towering over the rest of the room. “Is this even real?” His hand reached out to touch the stem.

“I don’t even know. But it’s absolutely impossible to move. It’s easier sturdier than the doors in this place.” Hina offered. The implications of an indestructible object definetely worried Makoto, but he decided to drop it.

Instead, he turned to Hina. “Are...you okay?” Hina turned her head away from Makoto, choosing instead to examine the unnaturally yellow plants in the garden.

“No. I’m not.” She plucked the flower from the ground, sadly eyeing it. “But I’ve already told you how I feel. I’m going to like Sakura wanted me to live.” She threaded the flower’s stem into her pony-tail, smiling determinedly. “I’m going to survive. I’m going to survive for myself. And I’m going to survive for Sakura.”

“YAWWWN!” Monokuma mocked, now posing against a small shack. “When are Y'all gonna get over that chick?”

“She just died yesterday.” Hina spat.

“But there's still so much more for you to investigate in here! So drop it and get back to work!”

Makoto huffed. As much as he hated to admit it, Monokuma was right. He had to investigate everything he could. His eyes traveled over to a large metal pole, with a control panel attached to it.

“What does that do?” Hina asked, pointing to the orange panel littered in buttons.

“It controls the sprinklers! Every day they are set to go off at 7:30 AM! To keep the plants watered! Don’t worry about touching it without permission either, the options are locked so nobody can tamper with em!” Monokuma cheered.

“So there is no way to change the sprinklers? At all?”

“Yup yup yup! Every time, Every day, without fail!” Makoto walked past Hina, over to the shack Monokuma was against. He peered into the door’s small window.

“Monokuma,”

“Mmm-Hmmmmm?”

“Why do you have a chicken coop here?”

“Why not, Mr. Naegi?” Makoto honestly did not want this conversation to continue, so he decided to follow the path of the Garden and investigate the shack marked “STORAGE” in a boldened text.

Inside, were tons of gardening tools. Sickles and hoes, along with rakes and shears lined the walls. Ropes and bags were pinned to the walls, but the one implement that caught Makoto’s attention was a pickaxe. On the handle of the object were the words “CRAZY DIAMONDS” etched. He had heard that name before. He had read that name before. When had he heard that name?

 

When he stepped outside of the Garden, he was met with the worried face of Celeste.

“What’s wrong-” Celeste grabbed his sleeve and turned him around, slamming his back against a wall.

“Last night, Kyoko told me something, worrying.” Makoto’s eyes widened.

“When did she talk to you? She was with me on the 4th floor last night.”

A small blushed formed on Celeste’s cheeks. “Irrelevant. But, she told me about a girl named Mukuro Ikusaba.” The name hit Makoto like a knife to the heart. What was so special about that name? About Mukuro Ikusaba?

“She-She told me the same thing…” Makoto pondered to himself. How did Kirigiri know about this Mukuro Ikusaba? And who exactly was she? And why was he supposed to fear her?

“We’ll discuss this later. For now, there is still more to investigate.” And she promptly walked into the Garden. Makoto sighed, looking around the corner to find an excruciatingly long hallway. Very, very long. Makoto’s legs moved of there own accord, dashing down the hallway that felt like it was slowly closing in around him. He came to a steel door bolted shut. He pushed his body against the door, only to find himself being forced off of it.

Resigned to failure, Makoto came to the only room he has yet to open. Curiously, there was no set of stairs on the floor, which meant that this was the final floor of the Academy. In front of him were a set of three classrooms. Two of them were boarded off, but one remained open. Makoto walked up the door and pushed it open.

It was barely recognizable as a classroom anymore. Tables and desks lined up as barricades. Long since dried blood coated the walls, tapestries ripped to shreds. And the smell. Dear god, the smell. The smell that forced itself into Makoto’s nose was pungent and sour, abhorrent and sinister. And standing amongst the wreckage was Kyoko Kirigiri.

“It smells awful, right?” She stated, clean and quickly, leaning down to examine a chalk outline.

“It’s...horrible…” Makoto wanted to scream. His hands clenched around his nose and mouth, but that smell refused to leave his head.

“I think we’ve both smelled it before. We’ve come across a few bodies during our stay.” She turned to Makoto. And Makoto knew he recognized this smell. It was despair. It was the smell of death and despair. And he’d smelled it before.

“What did Monokuma do to this place?” Makoto wondered aloud.

“Whatever it was-”

“WHAT THE H*CK????” Monokuma suddenly shouted. “Why am  **_I_ ** the prime suspect???”

“YOU trapped us here! YOU clearly did it! You’re a homicidal bear!”

“DING DONG THATS WRONG!” Monokuma whirred with frustration. “I left the room EXACTLY HOW I FOUND IT, YOU  _ RUBES! _ ”

“And why should we even trust you?” Kirigiri spat. “What do you mean, ‘left it as you found it’?”

“Puhuhuhu!! Bold of you to assume I’m competent enough to adequately awnser your questions, Ms. Kirigiri!!!” and he was gone.

“...Kirigiri?” She didn’t move. Her eyes squinted, her hands tightened into fists as she stared at the blood splattered across the walls. “...Kyoko?” No response. Makoto looked around the walls, he wanted to shut his eyes forever.

“The blood has dried,” Kirigiri stated, her hand rubbing against the material. “The color has changed as well.”

“But...what does that all mean?” Makoto offered, leaning over Kirigiri’s shoulder.

“It’s safe to say that this blood has been here for quite a long time.” Kirigiri’s hand went to her mouth in confusion.

“But what about the body outlines? How many people, died here?”

Kirigiri glared around the room, and for the first time, she looked scared. Makoto looked at Kirigiri’s face and she didn’t know. She couldn’t answer his question. She couldn’t solve this mystery. She turned on her heel and dashed out of the room, as Makoto trudged after her.

 

Makoto followed Kirigiri to the dining hall, where the others were already waiting.

“So everyone’s here?” Celeste quietly asked.

“Still...there’s so few of us left…” Chihiro groaned, her head pressed over her crossed arms.

“Don’t be all sad! We still have to make it out of here!” Toko shouted. Chihiro sighed in reply.

“We have to talk about our discoveries as quickly as possible,” Kirigiri stated. “We can’t afford to wait any time.” her words were short and choppy, desperately trying to get to the point.

“I’ll start,” Hina stated. “Despite the garden looking open, it’s like every other window on the 5th floor. Closed off.”

“Anything else?” Kirigiri asked.

“Yes, actually. I didn’t see a staircase.” Hina looked at the Dining Hall’s painted on window. “Did we really reach the school’s top floor?”

“I also investigated the Garden, and I’m sure Makoto and Hina can vouch for my discoveries,” Celeste added. “Inside of the Garden was a chicken coop, a nigh-invulnerable plant, and a Toolshed.”  
Celeste continued. “There was also a sprinkler system.”

“They go off every day at 7:30, no matter what,” Hina added.

“Interesting…”

Celeste continued. “There was also a sprinkler system.”

“They go off every day at 7:30, no matter what,” Hina added.

“Interesting…”

Crazy Diamonds. “Celeste, did you see a pickaxe in that toolshed? One with a weird label on the handle?” Makoto hurriedly offered.

“Why, yes, I did,” Celeste stated. “It read, ‘CRAZY DIAMONDS’, correct?”

“Crazy Diamonds?” Kirigiri stated. “What’s so important about that?”

“I’ve heard that name before…” Toko mused. “You all get what I mean, right?!”

“Does anyone remember where they could’ve seen it?” Makoto stared. His eyes traveled the entire room before his eyes widened with realization.

“MONDO! It was on the back of Mondo’s uniform!” He shouted, a grin spreading across his face.

“I GOT IT! Corn hair snuck into the room and planted it!” Toko shouted, her hands grabbing at her braids.

“We didn’t have access to the Garden before today though,” Kirigiri stated. “There’s no way for Mondo to have gotten in there before his death.”

“Did Monokuma confiscate it? Before Mondo died?” Chihiro suggested.

“Unlikely,” Celeste stated. “None of us held any of our belongings when they woke up in those classrooms.” That seemed so long ago now.

“Anything else?” Hina questioned.

“Yes, in fact,” Celeste responded. “What concerns me is the Bio Lab.”

“Bio Lab?” Chihiro mumbled. “What’s so special about the Bio Lab?”

“It was at the end of an incredibly long hallway.” Makoto offered.

“And, it was the only room to be outright locked on the floor.”

“That’s...terrifying. Maybe there’s some kind of monster over there!” Chihiro yelled. “I’m getting Tyrant flashbacks,”

“Did any of you notice it?” Kirigiri spoke, her voice low. “The only open classroom?”

Makoto choked on his own breath.

“What? What about the classroom?! Don’t leave us hanging, you Sherlock Bitch!” Toko shouted.

“There was a classroom.” Kirigiri calmly stated. “Covered in blood. There were chalk outlines and overturned desks. It looked like a warzone.”

“Wh-What the fuck are you rambling about!?” Toko screamed back.

“The smell was horrific,” Makoto said, his hands flying to his mouth. “I couldn’t stand another minute of it without puking.”

“What the…” Chihiro mumbled.

“What happened? What happened there?” Celeste pondered, her face twisted into an out of place grimace.

“I have an idea. Less of an idea. More of a theory.” Kirigiri stated, a gloved hand snaking into her trenchcoat. “It’s called...the Tragedy.”

“The Tragedy?” 

“I was, investigating, recently.” She paused, searching for the right words. She was definitely keeping something from them. “I found, a file.” Her hand pulled a sleek, blue case-file from her jacket, brandishing it in front of her classmates. In black text, it read:  **‘The Tragedy of Hope’s Peak Academy’.**

“The Tragedy of Hope’s Peak?” Hina questioned.

“Yes, the file itself doesn’t say much. Just some flavor about an event involving Hope’s Peak that caused many people to die.”

“...So, the Tragedy was a killing? That happened in that classroom?”

“That is my current theory,” Kirigiri stated. “That is all. If anyone has any more information pertaining to that classroom, say so now.”

Toko’s hand shot up into the air. “I found something in that classroom.” 

“And? Show us, already.” Toko slammed an impossibly massive survival knife on the table.

Hina shouted. Chihiro let out a yelp and furiously scooted away in her chair. Makoto jumped back in surprise. Kirigiri and Celeste seemed unfazed.

“Why on earth was  _ this _ in that room?” Celeste said casually, dangling the implement between her fingers.

“Obviously we can’t just let Toko keep it,” Hina yelled, considering how far away she was.

“And WHY would that be?!” Toko yelled inquisitively.

“I don’t want a butcher knife in the hands of a Serial Killer!”

“NGH!! DON’T COMPARE ME TO THAT HALF-BAKED BITCH-STICK!” Toko screamed back. “I AM NOTHING LIKE HER!”

“...Anyway, who would like to keep the knife?” Kirigiri stated. “I doubt the knife would be a murder weapon anyway, it’s too easily traceable if one of us takes it.”

“..I’ll hold on to it.” Makoto carefully took it in his hands.

“Makoto?” Kirigiri turned to him, a curious look dawning her features.

“You’re the most trustworthy.” Seeing as that was all she was willing to say, Makoto took that as final. Considering everyone else just nodded along casually, Makoto assumed that was final.

 

Makoto headed to his room late that night. He headed to his room and immediately placed the knife on his drawer. He never wanted to look at that ever again as he slid into his bed, removing his shirt and hoodie.

That night, he dreamt of a Tragedy.

 

_ “If I could have one wish granted,” She looked over next to her. To the row sitting next to her. “I would want wings.” One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine. Counting herself, nine people. “On my back, as on a bird's,” Would one more arrive? Or was this all of them? “please give me white wings.” She sighed and turned her head to face the screen. The shaky projection wasn’t doing the image quality any particular favors, but she was willing to let it slide. It was pretty rushed, anyway. _

_ “I want to spread my wings to the sky, and fly away,” She reached into her cupholder, taking a long sip out of her theater cola, before putting it down, unsatisfied. “To the free sky, where there is no sadness.” She briefly considered leaning over the boy sitting next to her, just to reach the popcorn, before deciding against it. “I want to flap my wings,” She decided to just nurse her drink, unsatisfied, as the movie played out. “and go there.” God, where had this company’s budget gone? She booed at the screen before the boy two seats down yelled at her boorish behavior. _

_ “The dreams I dreamed in childhood.” She sat still. Still enough to convince one she was dead. “Even now, I still dream.” Maybe this was all a dream. Maybe she was dead. _

_ “I want to spread my wings to the sky, and fly away.” She let out a massive exhale, letting her head fall to the side, resting on the shoulder of the girl one seat over. “To the free sky, where there is no sadness.” This was fine, for now. For now, this was perfectly fine. “I want to flap my wings, and go there.” For now. _

 

Makoto woke up the next morning in his usual fashion. Swap out his identical shirts and hoodies, trudge to the Dining Hall, open the pair of double doors, exchange pleasantries. It really was sad that he had fallen into a routine. But he didn’t expect  _ this _ .

“ **_WHO STOLE IT?! WHICH ONE OF YOU UNGRATEFUL BRATS STOLE MY PRECIOUS?!?!?!?!”_ ** Monokuma screeched, throwing a temper tantrum on top of the Dining Table. The students all collectively held their food and drink off the table to avoid Monokuma’s wildly twisting body.

“You still haven’t told us what that is.” Celeste deadpanned, her face bored.

“ **_YOU ALL KNOW WHAT YOU DID.”_ ** Monokuma glared around the table. “ **_I HATE ALL OF YOU! I HOPE YOU ALL GET STUCK WORKING THE DAY SHIFT AT AN IKEA THEN GET ROBBED BY A VETERINARIAN!!”_ **

“That’s too specific to be made up…” Hina sighed.

“ **_UWAHHHHH!!!!”_ ** He had to admit, Monokuma was good at simulating tears. “ **_AFTER ALL I’VE DONE FOR YOU, WhY wOuLD You BETRRRAY me thiS WAYYYYYY”_ ** He whined.

“Get over yourself and tell us what you’re missing.” Kirigiri cut in, making Monokuma glare at the girl with the braid.

“ **_MPH!”_ ** and the bear was gone. God, Makoto hated that bear.

“So...what was... _ all that _ ?” Chihiro asked.

“I’d tell you if I knew,” Hina responded, taking a bite of sausage.

Toko ripped into a plastic package, sending crackers everywhere. “Who the fuck cares! Just let himself burn out, he’ll get over himself eventually.”

“Toko, have we been seeing the same bear?” Makoto asked, sitting into his seat and stealing a piece of bread off of Kirigiri’s plate. “Monokuma thrives off of his own melodrama.”

 

_ Ding Dong Ding Dong _

 

Makoto didn’t want to wake up yet. His day was normal enough, someone just wanted to talk to him. He was asleep. Yup, asleep, absolutely no way that anyone could talk to him because he was asleep.

_ Ding Dong Ding Dong _

_ Ding Dong Ding Dong _

 

FINE. Makoto threw on a shirt and trudged to the door, angrily throwing it open to see Kyoko Kirigiri. “I was asleep.”

“Was. I need to talk to you in the bathhouse’s waiting room. See you there.” And she promptly walked off. Makoto hated her sometimes.

When he arrived there, Kirigiri was sitting on a desk and snapped her head to attention as he entered. “Sorry for asking you here so late.”

“Funny thing, I’m somehow used to it.” Makoto spat, Kirigiri just chuckled behind her glove.

“But it is important.” Kirigiri insisted. “I stole something.”

“From Monokuma?” His eyes instinctively shot to the corner where a camera would’ve been.

“Yes. Something important.” Her hand reached into her coat’s breast pocket, removing a small silver key. Makoto leaned forward, and his eyes widened as he saw its shape. It was probably the only key in the world to have Monokuma as a topper. 

“How on earth did you get this?”

“Headmaster’s office,” Kirigiri stated, her mouth half-covered by her glove.

“ _ You snuck into the Headmaster’s Office?! _ ” Makoto screamed in a hushed tone.

“The lock was broken. My running theory is Sakura, but assume whatever you want.”

“She did say she would fight.” Makoto stared at the lockers sadly. “Her last act was to save us.”

“The room was open after the class trial two days ago,” Kirigiri spoke, starting off into her own world. “So, I used you as a decoy, having you distract Monokuma get inside.”

“So, I was bait, and you found that key inside of the office?” He was slightly offended he was a distraction but mostly enamored by her plan. “Wait, is that how you learned about-”

“Mukuro Ikusaba? Yes.” Kirigiri spoke. “I found a file in the headmaster's room that talked about her, yes. Quite a few details were redacted, but from what I got, Mukuro is incredibly dangerous.”

“Could she be the Mastermind?” Makoto impulsively spoke.

“You beat me to the punch, but that is my running theory,” Kirigiri spoke, placing the key back in her pocket gingerly.

“But, what does that key unlock?”

“That’s what we need to find out. Which is why I need you to be a decoy for me again.”

“What? But what if Monokuma finds out! He could do something to you! He could kill you-”

“It’s just another mystery, Makoto. Like me, remember?” Makoto could see a fire lit behind the stone cold eyes of Kyoko. She was excited, she was enamored, she was desperate. But, most importantly, she needed this. So Makoto nodded and played along.

“Okay. Tell me what I need to do.”

“Well, first, I believe the Mastermind can’t control Monokuma and monitor us at the same time,” Kirigiri stated.

“How do you figure?”

“They didn’t catch me last time. We need to run this experiment one more time. If they don’t catch me a second time, then we can prove my theory correct.”

“Are you sure you can do this?”

“As far as I know, I am not breaking any rules. Sakura broke the lock, and with the key, I am not forcing a room open.”

“But-!”

“Makoto. If you hide from danger all the time, you will never uncover the truth. Don’t you want to uncover the truth? Don’t you want to get out of here? Don’t you want to solve our mystery?”

“I do, but-”

“Then trust me.” Makoto’s eyes met Kirigiri’s, and he feared. He feared Monokuma, he feared execution, he feared death. But he was willing to put trust in the violet eyes of Kyoko Kirigiri. Maybe just Kyoko.

 

Kyoko bolted down the hallway with impressive speed as they came out of the room. And Makoto executed his part of the plan.

“HEY MONOKUMA! COME OUT HERE! I NEED TO TALK TO YOU! YOU CAN SEE ME RIGHT?!”

“JEEZ LOUISE DO YOU KIDS EVER SHUT UP?? I SWEAR ALL THE EVENTFUL THINGS HAPPEN DURING THE NIGHT!”

“Why are there no surveillance cameras in the waiting room?”

“That’s all? Well, it’s simple! I’m no perv!!! I wouldn’t spy on my students! How dare you, Mr. Naegi!”

“Wouldn’t the lens get all fogged up anyway?”

Monokuma stopped, his eyes glaring off at a wall. Makoto considered that as a yes.

“What’dya want, anyhow?” Monokuma curtly asked.

“You told us earlier that your ‘precious’ had been stolen. What is your precious?”

“Ok. Ok. Okokokokokokokokokokokok…” Monokuma whirred. “Mr. Naegi, this is a silly question but is THAT SERIOUSLY WHAT YOU DRAGGED ME OUT HERE TO TALK ABOUT?!”

“Yes! It’s an important question for me!” Makoto lied.

“YOU GOTTA BE HECKIN KIDDIN ME! THAT’S THE STUPIDEST THING I’VE EVER HEARD!! ARE ALL TEEN BOYS AS STUPID AND NONSENSICAL AS YOU?!” Makoto was briefly offended before realizing this was coming from a murder bear.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“FINE, if you’re so intent on bullying me, I'll tell you! It was a key and ******! That's it! Nothing else! Nada! Zip! NOTHINGGGG!!!”

“What was that second thing?”

“I DON’T CARE ANYMORE!! JUST GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP YOU, INSUFFERABLE HALF-WIT!  **_FUCK!”_ ** Monokuma stormed off, leaving a sea of curses behind him. Hopefully, that bought her enough time. Hopefully.

 

When Makoto walked into the Dining hall, he was terrified by Kyoko’s absence.

“Hey! Have you seen Kirigiri?” Chihiro asked as he walked in, seemingly broken of her Alter Ego stupor.

“No, have any of you?” Everyone shook their head in defeat. This was not good. Not good at all.

“Oh, you looking for Miss Kirigiri?” Monokuma said, suddenly standing on the Kitchen counter, peeling an orange.

“Yes! Wait-you, don’t know where she is either?” Hina wondered.

“Hey! Ever wonder what the inside of a tonsil looks like?”

“No?????” Toko groaned. “I got whiplash from how fast he changed the subject…”

“Anyway, since I was right and you are looking for her, you know where she is?”

“No!” Hina yelled, and Monokuma groaned, disappearing. He took the orange with him.

“She didn’t just disappear…” Hina mumbled.

“But Monokuma doesn’t even know where sh-ACHOO!” Toko started before Syo arose in her place.

“Eh? What are yall rambling about?” She looked around the room in surprise. “Fill me in!”

Ignoring her, the conversation continued. Most of the breakfast was dedicated to theories about Kirigiri’s whereabouts, which blended well into the day.

 

Makoto felt unconscious before he even hit his bed. Not feeling well enough to even change, he plopped into bed, sweat beading off his face as his head was filled with words that seemed too vivid to be real.

“ _ Don’t Forget. You Asked For This.”  _ The voice was his own. He knew that much. “ _ You don’t want to leave. You want to stay here. You have to stay here.”  _ The voice was his own, but his words were not. “ _ It’s for hope. It’s all for hope. You have to stay. You have to stay, for hope.  _ **_Don’t Forget. You Asked For This._ ** ” 

His eyes shocked open to see a figure standing at the edge of his bed. A figure he didn’t recognize. Dressed in a white lab coat and a black mask with a painted on grin stood in front of his bed, and this figure held the same knife that should’ve been on his dresser. Makoto’s eyes drifted shut again as he heard fighting. Sounds of struggle and panting and footsteps.

He opened his eyes again to see Kyoko Kirigiri. She held a finger up to her lips, and Makoto fell asleep again.

 

He knew it was a dream. It had to have been. But the Knife wasn’t on his dresser. It wasn’t on his dresser and he was terrified.

Only Hina was in the Dining Hall, and she was relieved to see him.

“Hina? What’s going on?”

“Makoto, thank god!” She grabbed him in a surprising hug, which Makoto slowly responded too. “We were so worried last night when you wouldn’t open your door.”

“I wouldn’t...open my door?”

“Yeah! We were worried you were...you know,” Makoto’s eyes widened. “But, it doesn’t matter! You’re fine! Come on, everyone’s waiting in the gym!” and Hina dashed out of the door, as Makoto slurred his way down the stairs and into the gym.

 

Chihiro bent over a dismantled Monokuma was not something he was prepared to see today.

“Makoto!” The programmer cheered, looking away from the bear, wires spilling out of its stomach. “Thanks for being alive!”

“You’re...welcome?” He looked from the bear to Chihiro. “That’s...Monokuma, right?”

“Yeah,” Chihiro stated, unfazed, as she pried a circuit from its side, spilling oil on her sweater.

“But isn’t that a violation? No violence against Monokuma right?”

“Chillax, numbnuts!!” Syo shouted. “It was like this when we found it!”

Makoto hummed to himself. “We found him like this last night. After we gave up on your door, we came here and found Monokuma...in a state of disarray.” Celeste spoke, kicking the body of Monokuma.

“Hey! Don’t interrupt me!” Chihiro protested, but her eyes quickly widened. “We got eyes on a bomb!”

“WHAT?!” Makoto yelled.

“It’s deactivated, but I guess all Monokumas come with implanted bombs?”

“Don’t scare me like that…” Hina sighed.

“I can’t make more progress on the body without more gear.”

“Maybe...there would be something more in the garden’s toolshed?” Celeste offered.

“Good idea!” Chihiro jumped up, bouncing past the group. Seemingly, when presented with programming opportunities, Chihiro was incredibly peppy.

 

But when they arrived in the garden, Makoto’s heart dropped. Unbending, unmoving, unwilling, the giant plant was the perfect place to hang a body. Draped in a lab coat, pinned to their body by the same knife from Makoto’s room, and a black mask over their face hung a lifeless, nameless, faceless body. And Makoto was terrified.


	12. The Hanged Man-DEADLY LIFE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the endings kinda rushed but i think this is really solid

“WHOO-WHEE!! A body has been discovered!!”

 

It was the smile that ruined him, he thought. The villainous and too-wide grin that sat on the mask of that body that got to him. Not the noose, no. Not the knife, no. But the smile.

“But...who is that?” Hina wheezed.

“...Kyoko?” Her name wheezed out of Celeste’s mouth, taking tentatively stepping towards the body. “It can’t be, right?” Her accent disappeared more and more as she spoke. “It’s...it’s not Kyoko, right?”

“OOOOOOOO IM LOVIN THIS!” Syo shot past Celeste’s shaking form to the hanging body.

“Syo?” Makoto questioned, before screaming as she made grabby hands towards the body. “SYO???”

“I’m LOVING the mask!! Total corpse couture!” Syo dashes forward, preparing to grab the body off of its noose.

“SYO! DON’T TOUCH IT!” But it was too late. As soon as Syo’s hands made contact with the body, there was an explosive roar and a blinding flash of light, and Syo was sent rocketing back. The body...exploded. It just exploded.

Thankfully, before he could dwell on that further, a fire extinguisher was pushed into his hands.

“Come on. Let’s get this over with.” Celeste’s voice was somber. Did she still think it was Kyoko? It couldn’t be, right?

The upper half of the body was still on fire as Makoto doused the flames. What was left was barely recognizable as human. Just molten.

“How...I can’t imagine any sort of rig that could’ve to cause that…” Chihiro sighed, then yelped as the Noose snapped off and the body plummeted to the ground.

“It’s her, isn’t it?” Celeste said, tears threatening to pour off of her face. “That’s Kyoko’s body, isn’t it?” She turned to the rest of the group. “Please, tell me otherwise!”

Makoto’s eyes widened. “No. There’s someone else.”

“What?” Hina asked, incredulous. “What do you mean there’s someone else?”

Mukuro Ikusaba. The name was in his head. The name Mukuro Ikusaba was in his head, but it wouldn’t form in his mouth. “The Mastermind.”

“No way! No way the Mastermind just got blown up! Wouldn’t we all be out of here by now?!” Hina shouted.

“No, if the Mastermind was dead, then there would be no one left to control Monokuma,” Chihiro said, excited. “There might be no more Monokuma! This might’ve been the end!”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Celeste spoke. “I’m not quite convinced.” She turned her gaze to Makoto. “Tell me everything you know about the Mastermind. Did Kyoko tell you anything.” her words came out as a command, rather than a question. Of course, Makoto knew Celeste was informed about Mukuro. He knew she knew that name.

“Recently, Kyoko confided in me that the Mastermind was most likely a girl named Mukuro Ikusaba, the Ultimate Despair.”

“...What?” Chihiro asked, incredulous.

“She did not tell me how she got this information, but she was certain it was true.”

“This is her punishment. Her execution.” Celeste stared into nothing. “She defied Monokuma, and now she’s dead.” Celeste sank to her knees. “We’re all going to die here. Just like everyone else.”

“Get...over...yourself…” Toko‘s voice groaned from the entrance to the room. She looked relatively unharmed, more just angry.

“Glad to have you back, Toko.” he turned to Celeste. “I am certain that it is not Kyoko. She wouldn’t go down that easily.”

“But what about what happened with Junko! Monokuma took her down in seconds!”

“The Kyoko Kirigiri I know wouldn’t go down without a fight. And she wouldn’t want you wildly speculating about some random body.” Despite how morbid his words were, Celeste seemed to take solace in them, finally standing.

“Let’s...start investigating then.” Chihiro took tentative steps towards the body, in which Makoto joined her, doing his best to imitate Kyoko. What would she do right now? Check the visible clothing for identification. His hands went to the blood-splashed hands of the corpse. He found long, red, acrylic nails on her hands, along with what looked like a smudged symbol.

He squinted, his hand reaching out in an attempt to rub off what was smudging the symbol. He was taken aback by how easily the rest of the shape uncovered itself. “Celeste, I need your help with something.”

The familiar click of heels walked up to the body. “What is it?”

“What’s covering this?” He pointed to the half-covered tattoo.

“Easy, foundation. Whoever this is must have been using it to cover up their Tattoo.” Celeste leaned down and quickly wiped it away. “Fenrir?”

“I’ve heard that before!” Toko shouted from the floor. “In the library!” She struggled to her feet before her knees buckled and she was down again.

“I’ll go with her! We’ll find what she’s looking for and report back!” Chihiro exclaimed, running to her side, and letting the much taller girl lean on her.

“Good idea. We’ll continue here.” What would Kyoko do? What would Kyoko do right now? Check the victim's belongings. That’s what she’d do. His hand went to what was remaining of the victim’s coat pocket, pulling out a small, glimmering object.

“Is that, a key?” Hina asked, peering in closely. It was small and modern, unlike the Monokuma Key in every way. It was rounded, with a circuitous pattern lining it.

“A key?” Her hand snatched it up. “Makoto, this is huge.” Celeste’s eyes widened at the mere sight of it.

“Could this open up some of those rooms? The ones that were locked?”

“The Data Center, The Bio Lab, and The Headmaster’s Room…” Celeste mused. “We should probably wait, right?”

“No,” Makoto stated. “I’ll go try all those rooms. We can't afford to lose any more time.”

“Makoto-” Celeste started, but he cut her off.

“We already have such a limited schedule. I’ll trust you two to continue the investigation while I’m gone.”

“But what if-”

“If you hide from danger all the time, you will never uncover the truth.” The words were Kyoko’s. He spoke those words in Kyoko’s tone, Kyoko’s voice. They were Kyoko’s.

 

First up was the Bio Lab. As he walked down the dark, impossibly long hallway, he felt trapped. Locked and submerged by the shadows the impossibly tall and long hallway brought. When he finally arrived at the door, the key wasn’t even close to fitting into the massive lock. Makoto retreated to his next destination.

 

The headmaster’s office. Strong, oak doors stood in his way. Strong oak doors that his key didn’t match at all. The key roughly pushed against the precise cylinder lock, forcing his key out. Makoto sighed and turned down the hallway.

 

The Data Center. Most likely his best hope. The velvet colored steel door stood in his way as he slipped the key into the lock. It turned and clicked. Makoto’s eyes widened. His face lit up for what felt like the first time in years. His hands shook. His whole body felt jumpier then he’d been for years. Makoto Naegi was _excited_ . He was _happy_ . He was _hopeful_. And he ran.

 

“DATA CENTER!” He shouted to Celeste and Hina. “It’s the Data Center!”

“That key unlocked it?!” Celeste shouted back. “Amazing, we were seriously lacking findings here. So did you look inside?”

Makoto shook his head. “After I unlocked it I came straight here.”

“That was nice of you,” Hina stated. “But what are we waiting for?! We need to get down there now!” She bored through them, dashing out the door and around the corner. Celeste and Makoto followed her, equally excited.

Hina was probably bouncing off the walls when they arrived. “The door’s still unlocked! And I checked, it won’t explode in your face when you open it!”

“Thank you, Hina.” Celeste smiled, her hand reaching out, grasping the doorknob and twisting it open.

 

The room was blue. It was invasively blue. The melancholy the room perpetuated poked and prodded at Makoto’s skin everywhere he looked. In a word, the room was...strange. He didn’t mean to downplay the strangeness of the rest of the school, But the dread he felt wasn’t as surface level. Here, it was waiting. Here, it was watching as you walk about, waiting to strike.

Hina’s hands clasped around her mouth as a wobbly finger aimed towards the walls. Makoto’s eyes traveled to the far wall to see screens. Live video recordings of Hope’s Peak Academy from every angle of every room.

“So, this entire room, it was just supposed to _watch_ us?” Celeste asked.

“But that means, this room is, private to the Mastermind, right?”

“Well. That settles it.” Celeste stated, walking in front of the group. “We know who the victim was.”

“Who?”

“That body was Mukuro Ikusaba. And she was the Mastermind.” Celeste stated, seemingly proud of herself.”

“Even if you are correct,” Makoto started. “We still need to investigate this room.” he took a deep breath. “We need to find out why the mastermind set up this life-or-death game in the first place.”

“I suppose you’re correct,” Celeste said. “There are still quite a few Mysteries to be solved.” Celeste trotted over to a steel desk with high-tech monitors on it.

“We should find Chihiro…”

“She’ll be back later. We can’t afford to leave yet.” Celeste pushed past Hina, to a modern TV, with a small wireless connector.

“WI-FI!” Makoto shouted, scrambling for the connector and fiddling with the power switch. “HINA! Get the power cord! Maybe we can find some kind of connection!”

“ON IT!” She dashed behind the TV yanking the cord into her hands and shoving it into a power outlet and running around to the screen.

Makoto’s body went still as the screen flicked on. It was them. It was a video feed of them. Makoto’s eyes fell as despair filled his stomach.

“What...is this?” Celeste questioned. “The school's surveillance feed?”

“Try, Try a different channel, Makoto.” Makoto nodded, pressing a switch on the connector, the channel flickering. But every time. It was three scared teenagers standing in a data center, stricken with Despair.

“Is this...some sort of twisted joke?” Celeste stated, breathing heavily.

“Joke? What kinda joke?” The trio whirled around to come face-to-face with Monokuma.

“Wh...what?”

“But, she’s…”

“Your headmaster can’t hear you! Come on, children, speak up!” They all stared at the bear incredulously. “BWAHAHAHA! Been awhile, Bastards!”

“You’re supposed to be a pile of scrap metal!” Celeste shouted.

“Me?! Dead! Didn’t you know? I’m actually 8 bears in one complete bear unit!” Ignoring that obvious lie, Monokuma continued. “Anyway! I am so mad that you thought I was dead! I am OFFENDED! I am REPULSED!”

“Just tell us why you’re here,” Makoto stated.

“To hand out the _Monokuma File,_ duhrrr!” Monokuma whipped around, handing a fresh Monokuma File to Makoto. He took the item silently into his hands. “Gotta go! Bye-Bye now-”

“WAIT!” Hina shouted. Monokuma stopped in his tracks, turning around slowly. “What about the TV?! You have to had faked that, right?”

Monokuma stared at the girl for a bit, before hunching over. “Puhuhuhuhu…” Its laughter rose into a mocking cackle. “PUHUHUHUHUHUHUHU!!!! IT’S THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE, MISS ASAHINA!” Its eyes glistened with Despair as it talked. “THE KILLING GAME IS BEING BROADCASTED ACROSS THE ENTIRE WORLD! WHY IT’S THE MOST POPULAR THING ON TV!”

“What? What the fuck are you talking about?!” Celeste shouted.

“First off, rude,” Monokuma stated. “But secondly, I’m no cheater! And I’m no liar either! Can you Imagine the ratings when Ms. Kirigiri started wearing YOUR ring?! You can’t sneak that by the fans!” Celeste’s face twisted into a furious grimace, her nails digging into her palms, and Monokuma was gone. Leaving three teenagers alone in a killing game. Alone in a killing game, with a file.

 

When they returned to the Garden, Chihiro and Toko were standing across from the body.

“You came back!” Chihiro exclaimed, before deflating as Makoto held up the file.

“Really? We’re, really going to do a class trial for this thing? I thought Monokuma was dead!” Toko shouted.

“So did we. But that means this might not be Mukuro.” Celeste stated, her fears surfacing. “But we have to do our best.”

“Read the file, then,” Toko responded, bitter as ever.

“Victim: Unknown due to injury. Time of Death: Unknown, but dead before the blast. Height: 5'7". Weight: 190 lbs. Chest Size: 30 in. Blood Type: A. Murder Weapon: Unknown. There is a large knife that goes all the way through the body’s chest, a large wound on the body’s head from an object about the width of a metal pipe, and the body was hung. There are also several wounds around the victim’s body, but those are days old.”

“It’s not, Kyoko, right?” Celeste asked. “Those nails couldn’t fit under her gloves, right?”

“I believe so. This has to be Mukuro Ikusaba, right?” Makoto offered.

“We, uh, have information about her hand tattoo!” Chihiro stated, trying to be peppy.

“Tell us then.” Celeste stated. Chihiro sighed.

“People with that tattoo belong to a group of mercenaries called ‘Fenrir’.” Chihiro stated. “That means, if this body has that tattoo, she belonged to Fenrir.”

“Huh, no one like that was here. No ‘Ultimate Mercenary’ or anything.” Hina responded.

“It’s weird the body isn’t wet, right?” Toko asked. “If it was killed and hung here earlier today, wouldn’t the sprinklers make it all wet?”

“Interesting…” Celeste mused. She leaned down, picking up the knife that was stuck in the bodies chest. “The file doesn’t talk about this being the murder weapon.”

Makoto recognized that knife. He was attacked with that knife. The same masked person that lay here now tried to kill him with that knife.

“Celeste, I want to revisit the reason for the body not being wet,” Chihiro called out. She was investigating the sprinklers pad, her fingers tracing the edge. “Everyday, the sprinklers go off at 7:30, that means the murder must’ve been committed here, after 7:30!”

“Good job, Chihiro,” Celeste stated, proudly. Making Chihiro beam with pride. “But on the other hand, I’d like to ask you a question, Makoto.” She turned to him.

“Yeah?” He responded.

“I’d like to ask about your motive last night. You and Kyoko were the only person to be away when we found Monokuma.” Celeste stated. “I’ve assumed the murder took place after midnight.”

“...Why is that?”

“Well, last night, when I was rounding everyone up to tell them about Monokuma’s body. I came to the garden as I could not find Toko-and the room was spotless.” Celeste leaned forward. “So, for the rest of the night, everyone except for you and Kyoko was not present in the Trophy Room.”

“Are you saying I did it?” Makoto took a step back, peering at Celeste with a worried look.

Toko suddenly emerged from the toolshed, seemingly not hearing this conversation. “Was there a tarp in here before?” Toko slapped a large dirtied tarp down on the floor.

“No…It wasn’t there before.” Makoto stated. He leaned down and flipped it over, and there on the back were the words: ‘BIO LAB’.

“That’s...weir-FUCK!” Hina screamed, stubbing her foot on something small and red shaped. She leaned down and grabbed it.

“Hina! Don’t touch that!” Chihiro dashed forward, snatching the object from her hands. “This! This is a part of the bomb from Monokuma’s body!”

“W-what?” Toko questioned. “But, how the fuck did that get here?!”

“It was most likely re-purposed to serve as a remote detonator. It was equipped to the body and set to detonate when someone-Syo-came in contact with it.” Chihiro grinned. “It’s a real marvel!”

“You seem a little too excited about this,”

“One more thing,” Celeste started. “I wish to investigate Kyoko’s room.”

“Can you even get in there?” Makoto asked.

“I know for a fact she left the door unlocked.” And Celeste trotted off, her nails wrapping around Makoto’s sleeve, dragging him across the school to Kyoko’s room.

 

Sure enough, the door easily moved open. Her room was very similar to all of them, but one item, in particular, caught his eye.

“What is this?” Makoto questioned, holding a small woodblock decoration in his hand.

“It’s a key. It opens one of the wooden lockers in the Dojo.” Celeste plucked the item from her hand. Celeste, determined, moved to her bedside drawer. She grabbed a small envelope and prepared to unseal it.

“Wait-how do you know about all this?” Makoto asked, incredulously.

“She showed this envelope to me. She said I should open it in case something happened to her. I guess now is that time.” Celeste unsealed the envelope with her nail, removing a small paper. She unfolded it as she read ‘Under the sheets.’ Celeste’s eyes widened as Makoto read it over her shoulder.

She hurriedly stripped down Kyoko’s bed, removing the sheet and grabbing a small crumpled paper. The other thing Kyoko stole.

“Celeste, read it.”

 

“ _Name: Mukuro Ikusaba_

 _Sex: Female_ _  
_ _Class: 78th._

_Talent: The Ultimate Soldier_

 

_Although small for her age, she was a military specialist trained in every weapon type imaginable. She showed an interest in the military from childhood and soon found herself completely absorbed in it. In elementary school, she won a survival game tournament and began writing for military magazines._

 

_Just before entering middle school, while she and her family were on vacation in Europe...she disappeared. The story of a young Japanese girl being kidnapped quickly took over Japanese media outlets. An intense international investigation turned up no information, and she was never found._

 

_However, she reappeared in Japan three years later, alone and completely unannounced. She revealed that she had joined a mercenary group known as Fenrir for those three years. She insisted that she hadn't been kidnapped, that she'd received battle training of her own volition. However, she never revealed why she decided to return home when she did.”_

 

“The Ultimate..Solider?” Makoto stated. “That’s not what, Kyoko said.”

“But...if she was apart of Class 78th...then, but,”

“Whoops! You weren’t supposed to see that!” Monokuma leaned in from somewhere, giggling. “I should probably clarify something though…”

“So, out with it.” Celeste spat.

“When you all first got together in the main hallway back when, there were fifteen people there, right? I think that the first meeting may have led to a little misunderstanding among you all..”

They didn’t speak. They just sat there, standing there in front of a bear.

“The total number of students taking part in this killing game was actually sixteen!” Celeste’s eyes widened. Makoto’s hands clung to his face, desperately.

They didn’t speak. They just stood there. In silence. They stood there, desperate.

“We...we need...to check the Dojo. Use that key. We need to go.”

“Yes, right, right away then.”

  


They moved fast. Their Three hours had to be up soon. They dashed forward, Celeste holding the key and feeding it through the locker with a matching number. Inside, were a bunch of arrows and a wad of bloody duct tape.

“It’s just a bunch of junk!” Makoto screamed.

“These objects clearly have some connections to the case, but, if Kyoko is the victim, why are they here? Why was the key in Kyoko’s room?”

 

_Ding Dong Bing Bong!_

“So so so so so sorry to interrupt, but I’m really not that sorry! Please report to the Symbol of Strength statue in the entrance hall!! Thaaaaank you!”

 

They all reported down the hallways into the Entrance Hall, walking to the statue. And they waited. They were expecting something to happen. But nothing happened. They were waiting for someone. They all knew who they were waiting for, but they didn’t know why they were still waiting for her.

“Are you all okay?” Makoto turned, to see Kyoko Kirigiri striding down the hallway.

“Kyoko!? You're still alive!?” Hina shouted.

“She’s alive! She’s Alive!” Chihiro exclaimed.

“Kyoko? Is it really her?” Makoto happily cheered.

“OH! She’s alive?!” Toko shouted.

Makoto turned. Celestia Ludenberg stood there. Staring at Kyoko Kirigiri.

“Hi-” Kyoko started, before she was cut off by Celeste’s lips crashed against her own. Celeste’s arms were thrown around Kyoko’s neck, as Kyoko’s arms wrapped around her waist. Kyoko smiled against her, leaning into Celeste.

“I hate to break this up,” Monokuma’s voice jeered. “But we got a Trial to get to???” Celeste’s eyes widened in realization as she pulled herself off of Kyoko, her face burning with embarrassment. Kyoko’s eyes remained wide as mirrors as she walked into the elevator down to the trial grounds. The class poured into the statue.

 

“It feels like it’s been forever, right?!” Monokuma cheered as they filed into the Trial Grounds. “Personally, I’m positively ELATED for this trial! So let’s get started right away! ALL RISE!”

“First of all,” Celeste coughed into her hand, clearly still flushed. “Let's discuss the specifics of the victim, specifically, the victim's identity.”

“When we look at the back of the corpse's hand,” Makoto stated, “We can clearly identify a tattoo belonging to Fenrir.”

“As I Chihiro and I researched,” Toko started. “We found out that this means the body belonged to a member of Fenrir.”

“If we combine that data with that file,” Celeste jabbed at Mukuro’s file. “We can clarify that the body belongs to Mukuro Ikusaba, The Ultimate Soldier.”

“So you found that.” Kyoko brought up. “You all seemed to be doing pretty well without me. I’m proud, somehow.”

“Yup! Yup! Yup! The Victim of this Trial is Mukuro Ikusaba! Have fun!” Monokuma cut in.

“But, Ultimate Despair sounds like a mastermind. But if she was really the Ultimate Solider, then that means she wasn’t the mastermind at all!” Hina shouted.

“So one of us still killed her. A student killed her.” Chihiro furiously repeated.

“Previously, I only thought there would be one suspect,” Celeste offered. “But only two of us are without alibis. Makoto and Kyoko.”  
“How do you figure?”

“Allow me to explain... Just after nighttime last night, I went to the garden. So I can confirm that at that point, there was no dead body there.” Celeste spoke eloquently.

“So, the murder must have taken place after you left the garden,” Chihiro added.

“However...Chihiro, Toko, Hina and I were in the gym the entire time.” Celeste clarified.

“Which means only Makoto and I were unaccounted for the entire time window where the murder could’ve taken place," Kyoko spoke.

“We went to the Garden at around 9 AM this morning, and found Mukuro’s body,” Toko added.

“And Hina and I met up in the dining hall at around 7:30,” Makoto stated.

“From 10 pm to 7:30 am, neither of you have an alibi.” Toko glared.

“Wait! 7:30?” Makoto shouted.

“Do you have an objection?” Hina asked.

“The body wasn’t wet. It wasn’t wet, and the sprinklers go off at 7:30!” Makoto shouted back.

“But we have a way to prove the body wasn't wet!” Hina offered.

"What?" Makoto asked.

"The Tarp! The tarp was put over Mukuro, and that way she didn't get wet!"

“What?” Makoto questioned.  
  
“We get it! We have no idea what kind of alibi is going on here. What I’m more interested in is the murder weapon!” Toko cut in. “The Monokuma File listed three separate causes of death!”

“She is right…” Chihiro sighed. “The knife...the head wound, and the noose, right?”

“Let us not forget the various day old wounds littering the victim.” Celeste returned.

“True…” Makoto stared off at nothing. “What seems the most probable?”

“The knife, right?” Hina questioned. “Didn’t the file say that it went through the entire body? That’d kill you instantly…”

“That knife is nothing like the knives in the kitchen.” Kyoko jabbed a finger at the weapon. “It doesn’t match the one Sayaka used on Leon, either.” Makoto felt his stomach curdle at the mention of Leon’s name, though he didn’t know why.

“I...I’VE SEEN THAT KNIFE BEFORE!” Toko shouted, pointing her finger at the weapon.

“Yeah...Makoto, _we_ gave you that knife…” Chihiro gasped. And there was that feeling again. What had he called it?

“Does, that mean Makoto was the killer?” Hina wondered. He didn’t dare look up, but he knew the gazes of Celeste and Kyoko too well at this point.

“Wait! Please don’t jump to conclusions!” He couldn’t accuse Kyoko, but she was the only other one without an alibi. But he knows he didn’t do it.

“Makoto is right.” Celeste cut in. “We need to examine every possible murder weapon. Starting with those.” Makoto followed Celeste’s finger to the set of arrows and the bloody tape.

“The...blunt attack to her head? It was from those?” Chihiro guessed.

“Precisely. The killer wrapped them in duct tape, and smacked Mukuro over the head with it.” Celeste stated before her eyes quickly widened in fear.

She had just given evidence against Kyoko. She shot the purple-eyed girl a worried look, returned with one of equal distress.

“We found those arrows...in the locker room. They were in Locker Number 6.” Celeste wheezed, her voice light.

“THen you used that key to get in there?” Toko questioned. Makoto nodded.

“Where did you find the key then! If we know where the key was, then we know who could’ve done it.”

And then, just then, Makoto knew what he was here to do. For years, he had thought that the Ultimate Lucky Student was supposed to make others look better. Maybe this was the first time a Lucky Student would save an Ultimate life.

“My room. The key was in my room.” He stated. Kyoko shot him a furious look, which he replied with a smile.

“So soon?!” Toko furiously asked. “What’s going on here,”

“WELL! I GUESS SINCE MR. NAEGI CONFESSES…” Monokuma whirred. “Let’s skip to Voting Time!”

“What?! No! We still have more to do-!”

“SILENCE, MISS LUDENBERG!” Monokuma chided. “Now!!! It’s voting time!!!”

“No! Stop it! Give us more time, dammit!”

“Silence! You LOST, Miss Kirigiri! You lost and there’s not a single thing you can do about it!” Kyoko shook. Even under her trenchcoat, every inch of her was afraid. So was Makoto.

Makoto was afraid when he voted for himself.

Makoto was afraid when the roulette started spinning.

Makoto was afraid when it landed on him.

Makoto was afraid when Monokuma turned to him, a shocking grin on his face.

 

“YUP! ABSO-TUTE-LY RIGHT!” The screen shifted again. To the same pixels, he had seen too many times. But, that wasn’t right. Makoto didn’t do it. What happened to the rules? What was going to happen to Makoto? He couldn’t die here. He wouldn’t let himself die here-

 

**CONGRATULATIONS!**

  


**MAKOTO NAEGI HAS BEEN VOTED GUILTY**

**TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!**

 

Makoto wanted to cry. He heard the screams of his class as a metal chain closed around his neck, and he was dragged down a hallway was sure wasn’t there a minute ago.

 

**AFTER-SCHOOL LESSON**

 

 _THUMP_ . All Makoto saw was a broken classroom. A broken classroom with a conveyor belt in the middle. _THUMP._ Only one desk was useable, the one Makoto was strapped to now. _THUMP._ It slowly descended down the classroom, Makoto’s thoughts racing. _THUMP._ This wasn’t allowed, right? _THUMP._ He was falsely convicted. _THUMP._ He didn’t do anything. _THUMP._ But a girl was dead. _THUMP._ And he chose to put his life in front of Kyoko. _THUMP._ He was, more okay then he thought he would be, as he reached his demise. _THUMP._ As the crashes got louder, and his heart beat faster, he was prepared to die. _THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP._ But it didn’t come. Makoto’s demise didn’t come, as he felt himself fall backward.

 

When Makoto woke up, he wasn’t dead. But Makoto Naegi did know a few things.

One, Makoto was injured. When his hand moved up to his head (which was not an easy task), he felt a damp warmness. He was bleeding. His knees and arms stung, so he was most likely cut there as well.

Two, he was somewhere he didn’t think he’d seen before. It was a massive room, filled to the brim with garbage that he’d never seen before. A massive rocket with a Monokuma head atop it, various pieces of rebar and plaster in clumps and mountains, even discarded food was down here. Was Makoto just another piece of garbage to be thrown away by this school?

Three, it smelled horrible in here. It smelled the same, if not worse, as the Tragedy Classroom, and Makoto couldn’t stand it.

Four, he wasn’t dreaming. And he wasn’t dead (not yet, at least.)

 

Makoto looked up from his position on the floor. Past all the trash was a large, pristine door on a large staircase. There was a lot of thrown-away leftovers Makoto could eat if need be, but he really didn’t want to imagine looking for _liquid_ down here.

 **_GARONCH._ **Makoto’s eyes turned to the sound. The sound of garbage bags landing on a concrete floor.

“Did that giant lump of trash really-”

“Giant lump of trash? Rude, Makoto.” Kyoko Kirigiri slowly rose out of the garbage pile, starting towards Makoto.

“K-Kyoko…?”

“Are you okay?” She leaned down, his blurry vision hardening when she approached. “Can you walk?”

Makoto shook his head. He weakly pointed to his head, forcing himself to his knees.

Kyoko cursed under her breath, silently picking a cup of Ramen off of her head and tossing it aside. “Here.” Her hands moved into her coat, pulling out two buns and a bottle of water. “Eat first. We’ll talk once you get your strength back.”

Makoto grabbed the food from her gloved hands, shoving the bun into his mouth.  Once Makoto was done, he cleared his throat. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”

“I knew you weren’t guilty. You saved my life. I’m here to save yours.” Kyoko smiled. “As for how, I figured that there would only be one way to fall. Actually, this is where the chute from the Garbage Room leads to.

“But..why did you go along with my lie? You knew I was lying. Why didn’t you do anything?”

Kyoko’s eyes hardened. “I had something I needed to do. I was brought here for a reason. I...remembered.”

“You remembered?! Your talent? What do you mean you were brought here for a reason? When did you remember?”

“Let’s...take this one step at a time.” Kyoko sighed. “First, I would like to date this back all the way to when we first arrived here.”

“I fainted. Everyone fainted. We all woke up in a classroom.”

“Yes, when I woke up...I could barely remember my name. It took all I had to remember what this school was called.” Kyoko looked almost sad. “At that time, I'd forgotten. I couldn't remember why I'd come to this school, and I couldn't remember what my "ultimate" ability was.”

“But...do you have a theory about how you lost your memories?”

“It’s not a theory. It’s fact. My amnesia is because of the Mastermind.” Kyoko grinned with excitement. “They took my memories because I was the one thing that posed a threat.”

Kyoko offered a hand. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Kyoko Kirigiri. I am the Ultimate Detective.”

Makoto’s eyes widened and he smiled, taking a sip of the water bottle before happily shaking Kyoko’s hand. “But, what about why you were brought here?”

“Easy, I had to find someone.” Kyoko’s stare hardened. “That person is Jin Kirigiri. The Headmaster of Hope’s Peak.”

“The headmaster? Are you related?”

“I’m his daughter.”

“But...what did his office look like?”

“The room had been ransacked. The shelves were a mess, the desk drawers dumped on the floor... The only conclusion is that someone who didn't know where anything was had been in there."

“The Mastermind.”

“Correct.” Kyoko grabbed Makoto to his feet, forcing him to Lean onto her shoulder. “After that, I saw his nameplate and I knew that he was important.”

“...But why was I the Blackened?”

“You, Me, and Celeste are the three most dangerous people to the Mastermind right now. Celeste had already turned over a new leaf and wouldn’t be believable.” Kyoko paused for breath, readjusting Makoto’s position. “It was either you or me. Either one. So the Mastermind planted two pieces of evidence. The knife and the key. Whichever person was picked as the blackened, would be executed.”

“When did you remember?” Makoto asked as Kyoko reached the door, grabbing her Monokuma key and turning it. Another staircase was laid out before them, a spiral staircase.

“Ah…” A blush crept up over her face. “I had been having dreams and flashes for a while, but when...Celeste kissed me, it all came rushing back. It felt...too familiar.”

Makoto snickered, stopping as it made his head hurt too much.

“Shut up…” Kyoko cleared her throat. “But back on topic, the last thing I’d like to discuss is the Ultimate Despair.”

“Mukuro?”

“Yes, and no. Mukuro is dead, but yet Monokuma lives. My theory is that Mukuro wasn’t the only Mastermind. There are more ‘Ultimate Despairs’. They’re a group, an organization, and Mukuro was an executive.” They were closer, they felt it. Makoto could hear the Morning alarm playing far away.

“The Ultimate Despair...so they’re behind all this?” Makoto whispered.

“Yes. I am certain.” Kyoko looked up as light filled the stairway. “Come on, we’re gonna meet up with the others soon. Stay alive, okay?”

Makoto nodded. “I’ll try.” Kyoko pushed open a door, and the two spilled out into a closet in the trash room.

“Do you want to keep leaning?” Makoto nodded, and they were off. Kyoko’s off-rhythm beats combined with Makoto barely walking. She pushed open the Dining Room door and Makoto was almost blinded. Voices rushed around him and Kyoko, the bodies of his friends embracing them. He could feel someone wrapping his head and arms, most likely Toko from all the yelling in his ears.

“Makoto?” Kyoko spoke and his attention was grabbed. “I have, an idea.”

“We’re all ears!” He heard Hina exclaim.

“One more investigation.”

“What do you mean?” Celeste stated.

“We uncover the mysteries of Hope’s Peak and the mastermind, and we leave. We fail, Monokuma executes us all.”

No one spoke. But Makoto raised his hand. He pushed himself onto his feet, barely managing to stand. Kyoko’s gloved hand shot up seconds later. Then Celeste’s. Then Toko’s. Then Chihiro’s. And finally, Hina’s.

 

Minutes later, Kyoko Kirigiri lead 5 other students into the Gymnasium, staring down a teddy bear.

 

“Monokuma, we have a proposition.”

 

“Puhuhuhu…”

“I’m listening…”


	13. White and Black, Black and White-DESPAIR LIFE

 

“Here’s my run-down,” Kyoko spoke with a clear, perfectly directed tone of voice. “One last class trial.”

“One... _ last _ trial? Whatever could you mean by that, Miss Kirigiri?” Monokuma chuckled.

“Simple. We have one more investigation. If we can deduce all of the mysteries within the school and the identity of the Mastermind, then you open the front gate, and we leave.” Monokuma let out a noise of intrigue. “But if we can’t, then you execute all of us.”

“One last showdown then? Is that how you want it?” Monokuma grinned. “One last trial! One last murder! One last time! Who will win?! HOPE OR DESPAIR?! WHY IT’S POSITIVELY TITILLATING! IM IN!” Monokuma panted in between laughing fits, the bear’s body convulsing with energy.

“Three hours.” Kirigiri stuck her hand out in front of her.

“Three hours!” Monokuma’s paw wormed into her hand, furiously shaking it.

 

They were barely out of the door before the PA system clicked on. “Hello! As you all know, this is your final investigation! So, as a show of common courtesy, all locked doors have been cracked WIIIIDEEE open!” Monokuma’s voice drawled. “In addition, every once in a while I will be calling students down to the gymnasium. This is for their individual and unique MOTIVES!” Then the PA shut off, leaving them alone.

“All the doors are unlocked? There’s so much to investigate!”

“I’d like to clarify something as we walk,” Makoto asked. “How exactly did I survive?”

“Oh, that was all Chihiro,” Celeste stated.

“Ah-well, it’s nothing really...Alter Ego is a program made for Adaptation, and apparently, she backed themself up into Monokuma’s mainframe. She was able to interrupt your execution and save you.”

“That’s...amazing!” Makoto gushed, making Chihiro splay her hands over her face in embarrassment. 

They all arrived on the 4th and 5th floors and dispersed. Makoto decided to start the search for truth on the 4th floor, with the Headmasters Office.

Just as Kyoko had described, the room was in complete shambles. The only things remaining being various blacked out files, Jin Kirigiri’s desk, and a single black door. Makoto pushed it open, to see Kyoko inside.

“What is this room?” Makoto asked. 

“Mr. Kirigiri’s private room.” Kyoko spat. She eyed the room with disdain. It clearly didn’t bring up happy memories.

“Why don’t you call him dad?” Makoto offered, before quickly realizing that it wasn’t the best thing to say.

Kyoko traced the wall. “I don’t view him as my father. I wasn’t that close with him, and he hated me for pursuing the family tradition of being a Detective. He abandoned me and my Mother and left me all alone. I came here to cut all ties with him.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up.” Kyoko cut him off.

“No, it’s fine. I think it might help us here.” Kyoko had stopped in front of a small keypad. She typed in 5 letters. K-Y-O-K-O. And the wall opened to reveal a room.

Kyoko gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and took a heavy step into the hidden room. It was small and bare, only a laptop, a few desks (one with a photo), and a present.

Kyoko walked straight up the offending object, holding the present at arm's length. She placed it on a desk, and carefully unwrapped it to reveal bones and a Man’s skull.

Makoto let out a terrified screech, running behind Kyoko. She just stared.

“Just as I thought…”

“Just as you...thought…?”

“I just...figured it would be his body.”

“What?”

“That...body... That's my father. Or at least what's left of him.” Kyoko, despite her straight face, had tears stinging her eyes. She walked away from the gift, stepping towards the photo, wrenching herself away from it the second she saw it.

“Kyoko?! Are you okay?” Makoto furiously inquired as Kyoko panicked. Fear drenched her eyes as she stared at...a photo of a young Kyoko and her father.

“This is...annoying. I just wanted to get over him, but look where we are…” Kyoko limped her way to the Headmaster’s Desk, reaching inside and grabbing a small tablet.

“What’s that?” Makoto inquired.

“It belonged to my father. It was most likely what he did his research and reports on. Quite a few things about the Ultimate Despair...nothing we didn’t already know.” She pocketed the tablet, turning away from Makoto.

“Are you okay?”

“Could you...leave? I want, I want to be alone for a bit.” Makoto nodded, leaving the Headmaster’s room.

Leaving the room, he saw Chihiro running through all of the Headmaster’s desks, looking desperately.

“You okay?” Chihiro turned around.

“Here.” She tossed him a small leatherbound pocketbook and returned to her work. Makoto cracked it open, as his eyes widened.

 

“ _ There's a plan to turn Hope's Peak into a shelter and isolate the students here in communal life. I decided to talk to the one who came up with the plan directly. It just so happens to be the headmaster--and my father. He was willing to give me some more details regarding the plan. Here's what he said... _

_ ‘The point is to keep our student prodigies safe, to keep them as our hope for the future. Only their genius can overcome disaster, and only their hope can overcome despair. For the future of our country, our world, it's not an exaggeration to call this our final hope. We must isolate our superior youth from the corrupted world to serve as the foundation for a new era. This is the only hope we have. I hope that you'll be willing to go along with this plan.’ So that's what my father had to say to me. As usual, he made a selfish decision without consulting anyone else. I can't imagine a worse father.” _

That’s what it read. There’s no doubt it belonged to Kyoko. But how? When? Where? She wouldn’t have heard anything from her dad, he’s dead! There is no possible way for this to have been hers. He thumbed through the rest of the pages to find, notes?

Pages and pages of study notes. Notes on the pronunciation of English words, notes on computer sciences, notes on mathematics, and notes on investigations! Intermittently placed were diary entries, he even found a few crossed out poems about someone he assumed was Celeste and decided to skip around until he found something relevant.

_ “I decided to talk to the one who came up with the plan directly. It just so happens to be the headmaster--and my father.”  _

The rest of the book was blacked out, except for the last two pages. The handwriting was messy, disorganized, and rushed.

_ “If we want to survive, we have to remember. There are two Despairs. And we wanted this.” _

 

Next on his list was the Data Center. Inside of the room was Hina, at the furthest end of the room. She was investigating a door blazed with Monokuma’s face. He swore it wasn’t there before, but he considered it was open now, so it’s worth checking out.

“Hey!” Hina shouted. “Just waiting for someone else to swing by,”

“That’s fair,” Makoto stated, still a little bit reeling. “Do you wanna check it out?”

Hina took a tentative step forward, pushing open the Monokuma Door.

There was no explosion, thankfully, but the room was the most unrealistic thing about this place, somehow.

“Wow! This place is completely sci-fi!” Hina mused twirling around to take it all in. 

Makoto approached the main backlit screen at the front of the room. He examined the details, looking from the floating screen to a floating screen that wouldn't make sense. There were two large paw-prints, and a microphone sitting unused on a large chair. Makoto himself stood on an uneasy trapdoor.

Hina’s hand reached out and tapped a button at random. “Do any of these do anything?” Hina drawled.

“This entire room is a control room based around Monokuma. So what did that button do-”

“Hiyaaaaaaa!!!” Monokuma cheered, poking its head into the room. Makoto looked down to the button Hina pressed, to find it labeled ‘Data Center’. There were many other buttons labeled with other rooms.

“I wanna...try something. Hey, leave the room with Monokuma!” Hina cheered. Makoto walked out of the room with the bear hot on his trail.

“BWARRRRRR!! GIMME ALL YOUR DONUTS!!!” Monokuma shouted. It clearly wasn’t Monokuma. It was very out of character for him, at the very least.

“...Hina? Is that you?” Makoto asked.

“Aw...Busted…” Hina sighed through Monokuma. “But, this is soooo cool! I’m controlling Monokuma, right?”

“Yeah! It’s some kind of remote control system, right?” Makoto inquired, and Hina-Kuma bounced up and down in excitement.

“Oh look! I found a self-destruct button!”

“DO NOT press it!”

“Aww…” The Monokuma Door swung open as Hina walked out. “So, the mastermind controls Monokuma from that room?”

“That means that Kyoko’s theory has been right!” Makoto exclaimed. “The Mastermind really can’t control Monokuma and monitor us at the same time!”

“But that means that the Mastermind has been inside the school the whole time, right?” Hina started. “So, Monokuma was telling the truth, one of us is the mastermind.”

“Yeah, I guess so...But I won’t believe it until we unmask the Mastermind themself.”

“Right! We’re friends! And we have to figure out who the mastermind is!”

“Let’s get to work!” Makoto and Hina left the room together, but the second they took a step outside, they heard an out of place  _ click _ .

“The door?” Hina questioned. She checked the door with her shoulder. “It locked on its own!”

“What?!” Makoto asked, incredulous.  
“ Of course it's locked! Because the data center is now restricted!”

“But why! You said all the rooms would stay open!”

“Never said for how long~” Monokuma whistled in a sing-song tone. “Plus, this for your benefit! If those rooms stay open I can’t move around!”

“So...the Mastermind is back in that room…” Makoto whined.

“As if the MASTERMIND EVER LEFT!!” Monokuma cackled. And promptly disappeared.

“This is the worst…” Hina groaned. “Our one big chance and we blew it!”

“We still have time left. We have to get our story together before we run out of time!”

“R-right! I’ll go tell the others!” And Hina dashed off. Leaving Makoto alone with a PA announcement.

 

“Could Chihiro Fujisaki please report to the gymnasium for her motive? Thank you!”

 

As Makoto walked by the Headmasters office, he could see Celeste, examining a student registry as she wandered the halls.

“Find anything?” Makoto inquired.

“Mukuro Ikusaba, it’s just her!” Celeste exclaimed, yelling at the folder. “The only new information I found is her measurements and vitals.” 

Makoto leaned over Celeste’s shoulder, reading off the book. “5 foot 7 inches, 190 pounds. Vitals: 31-22-32.”

“It’s NOTHING!”

“Something is better than nothing. This could help.” Makoto reassured. Celeste scoffed and begrudgingly handed off the folder.

 

“Could Kyoko Kirigiri please report to the gymnasium for her motive? Thank you!” They both waited for her to come out of the office, but she didn’t emerge from the room.

 

“Hmph...Well, if Miss Kirigiri won’t show up...could Celestia Ludenberg please report to the gymnasium for her motive? THANK YOU!”

 

“This is gross and I hate it!” Celeste stated but trotted off anyway. So Makoto headed off to his next destination in the Bio Lab.

 

He walked down the hallway and the same feeling of dread corrupted his entire body. Why on earth did the hallway have to be this long? Makoto pushed open the door, and immediately wished he hadn’t. The Bio Lab was cold and disgusting. Mold properly oozed from the walls. But it was cold. Makoto wore a heavy hoodie every day of his life, but the cold seemed to drill through his clothes and into his brain.

The right wall had heavy machines built into the wall, large grey squares. The entire wall was covered in them, but on 9 of them, a bright blue light was ignited. He’s seen things similar to them before. And judging by the red “Eject” buttons, he could assume that this was a morgue.

Makoto’s eyes traveled to a desk near the morgue walls and picked up a small booklet.

“We offer an eco-friendly alternative to standard dry ice for all your cadaver needs.” Makoto read, his face filling with dread. “In addition to the germicidal lamps, we also provide an ozone generator for the removal of ethylene gas. Simply insert the cadaver, and the blue light will let you know the automated systems have activated. Temperature and humidity levels will be adjusted automatically for optimum settings. With our system, anyone can keep a body fresh as a daisy for as long as you need!” So that means, there were 9 bodies in that wall.

“Could Aoi Asahina please report to the gymnasium for her motive? Thank you!”

 

Makoto walked back into the Garden and was shocked to see the disappearance of Mukuro’s body. Her corpse was gone, not a trace of her existed. Makoto decided to head into the toolshed. Something in there was related to the Bio Lab, he knew it.

The first thing that caught his attention was the tarp. The tarp that kept Mukuro’s body dry. He turned it over, and read the words “BIO LAB”.

It all made infinitely much more sense now. The tarps in the Bio Lab were taken to the Storage Shed and placed over Mukuro’s body. The Bio Lab wasn’t yet open at that point, meaning only one person could’ve gotten that tarp. The Mastermind.

 

“Could Makoto Naegi please report to the gymnasium for his motive? Thank you!” 

Makoto’s body tensed up. He was afraid of this. He knew he would be called down eventually, but as he walked down to the gym, he was filled with some emotion he couldn’t understand. It wasn’t fear, though he assumed it was probably a component to what he was feeling. It wasn’t excitement, but maybe he was a little excited to see the last motive. He pushed open the door to the gymnasium, staring down Monokuma.

“Hello, welcome! Welcome, hello! Here is one more final hint! Well, it just so happens to be in the envelope on the ground in front of you!” Monokuma slid a small grey envelope towards Makoto.

He knelt down, picking the envelope open, and unsealing the package. It featured a bunch of faces he immediately recognized. 15 smiling faces. 15 smiling faces in a classroom without plates on its windows. 15 smiling faces wearing the same uniform. 15 smiling faces, 10 of which would never smile again.

It was a photo. A photo of everyone he’d come here with, along with Mukuro Ikusaba. 

The only face he couldn’t see was Junko, who wasn’t facing the camera, checking her phone. 

Celeste was the only one out of uniform, as usual. 

Kyoko sat near the edges, sitting on a desk. 

Toko clung to the edges of the camera, Chihiro smiled, clasping her hands together. 

Taka stood in the happy embrace of Mondo, who was kissing the top of his head. 

Sakura’s hand rested on top of Hifumi’s head, her other around Hina, who was eating a donut. 

It was 15 students he’d never see all together again.

Makoto folded the photo into fourths and tucked it into his hoodie.

Mukuro matched the photo in the file perfectly. Greasy black hair, dark freckles dotting her face.

But why was she here? Why was she with class 78th? Regardless, Makoto decided to check out the Bio Lab.

 

He opened the door, barely making it past the hallway, to see Toko, passed out on the floor, again. He was slowly getting used to it, slowly.

“You okay?”

“KYEEEEEHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Genocider sprung up from the floor. “HOLD UP! Why is it so cold in here?! Where the fuck is HERE?!”

“You’re in the Bio Lab. Toko must have passed out I guess.” Makoto stated.

“I see, I see! You know, me and Whiny McBitchPants don’t exactly share our memories!! Only emotions!!!”

“Really?” Makoto asked.

“Yup yup yup! I got no memory of walking over here!!” Syo said, almost proud of herself.

 

“Could Toko Fukawa please report to the gymnasium for her motive? Thank you!”

 

Genocider dashed out the door, as Kirigiri walked into the room.

“She faints so easily…” She sighed, walking up the morgue, finding one door open.

“So she saw a corpse?” Makoto asked.

“This is probably where the Mastermind keeps the bodies.” Kirigiri seemed to mentally count, realizing something was amiss.

Makoto moved to close the small door but stopped himself. No other body had exploded, right?

“Mukuro…” Kyoko sighed, examining the top half of the body. “The file said that she had sustained several wounds several days prior to death, correct?”

“Yeah, they likely aren’t the cause of death,” Makoto stated.

“Hmmm…” Kyoko pondered.

“So, I saw that you didn’t go get your motive from Monokuma,”

“It’s nonsense, really. A motive? Now? It was likely just an attempt to throw us off track.”

Makoto stared at Mukuro’s body, barely identifiable now, as Kyoko pulled away from it.

“All three proposed causes of death, Hanging, Stabbing, and Blunt Force Trauma are implausible.”  
“Really? But how?”

“All of those wounds were inflicted post-mortem. I’m sure of it. They look fresher.”

“But, I thought the wounds on her were supposed to be old!” Makoto exclaimed.

“It didn’t say ‘old’, it said ‘inflicted within the past few days’,” Kyoko explained. “My current proposal is not only are these wounds the cause of death, but the murder itself was not executed recently.”

“How can you be so sure?!” Makoto incredulously asked. Kyoko simply stood up, pushing Mukuro back into the Morgue.

“Detectives aren’t psychic. We aren’t any more special than you. We’re just more open to multiple options.” Kyoko smiled.

“I have, one more thing to ask you about,” Makoto stated, pulling out the pocketbook he’d collected from the headmaster’s office. “Does this look familiar to you?”

Kyoko took the book and quickly skimmed it, her eyes widening everytime she flipped a page. “This…”

“Kyoko?” She pocketed the book and pulled something else out of her jacket. A pair of dvds.

“Watch these. I’m sure you’ll understand everything.” And she disappeared, her coat flapping down the hallway.

 

As Makoto made his way down to the AV room, he looked at the names written on the dvds. One labeled “MI Motive Video”, the other labeled “Class 78th Student Interviews”. He pushed open the door and stepped up to the DVD player. Deciding on one, he pushed in the first disk.

 

The screen almost instantly flickered to life, showing the image of a girl with dark freckles and greasy black hair. Mukuro Ikusaba.

_ “Hello. Your name is Mukuro Ikusaba. Remember that in case you ever forget.”  _ The girl on the screen was most definitely ‘MI’, or Mukuro Ikusaba. Was she talking to herself? Why was she addressing herself in a motive video?

_ “I know it must be weird, seeing yourself like this. But, you don’t really have a choice, do you?”  _ Makoto squinted at the screen in confusion.  _ “But your name is Mukuro Ikusaba, and you are the Ultimate Soldier, a member of the Ultimate Despair.” _ There was Kyoko’s theory confirmed.

_ “You love your sister, you worked for a group of mercenaries, and that’s how you got your title. You hate Paris, you hate your parents.”  _ Mukuro paused in the video. She seemed tentative, like sharing a secret.

_ “And remember. You wanted this Killing Game.” _ Mukuro in the video quickly turned off the camera. Makoto decided to hyper-analyze this later and instead popped in the next DVD.

 

It was only a few seconds of darkness on the screen, but to Makoto, it felt like an eternity. But soon, dim light flickered into the frame.

Sayaka Maizono sat across from Jin Kirigiri. She looked nervous, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt and looking anywhere but the headmaster.

Jin Kirigiri, a handsome man for his age, with a head of spiky black hair beginning to gray, smiled and spoke first. “Ah, let’s begin then, Miss Maizono.”

Sayaka didn’t respond.

“You’ll have to forgive me, I’m not very good at multitasking, so I’ll be recording this interview.” Sayaka sternly nodded, her face not moving an inch. “This recording is like, signing a contract, but in video form,” he explained, brandishing a clipboard. “Please note, it’s not that we don’t trust you, it’s just, an extra precaution.” He sounded like he wanted to say something else, but didn’t for Sayaka’s sake.

“Your name is Sayaka Maizono, correct?”  
“Yes.”

“You are the Ultimate Pop Idol, correct?”

“Yes.”

“You could very well end up spending the rest of your life here. Are you okay with that?”

“Yes,” Sayaka spoke with almost no hesitation. She just stared straight ahead, asking no questions. It’s almost as if she was just answering yes to appease the Headmaster and get accepted already. The video faded to black. Then it brightened up again.

 

Makoto Naegi was positively shivering and was sitting across from Jin Kirigiri.

“Before we begin, I would like to remind you that I will be recording this interview. It’s like a written contract, just in case.”

“That’s fine.” Makoto in the video blurted out. Makoto in real life was about to hyperventilate.

“Your name is Makoto Naegi, correct?”

“Yes.”

“You are the Ultimate Lucky Student, correct?”

“...Yes.”

“You could very well end up spending the rest of your life here. Are you okay with that?”

He saw himself falter for a few seconds, before instantly responding. “Yes.” And the video faded to black and kept going.

“Your name is Toko Fukawa, correct?”

“Your name is Aoi Asahina, correct?”  
“Your name is Chihiro Fujisaki, correct?”

“Your name is Celestia Ludenberg, correct?”

“Your name is Kyoko Kirigiri, correct?”

And just as Kyoko hurriedly agreed to spend the rest of her life in the academy, the video quickly cut out.

“WHOOPS! Sorry, ladies and gentleman, but we seem to be experiencing technical difficulties!”

“What? Put it back on!”

“Sorry! All our wires have been mysterious clawed apart! It’s a darn shame, really…” Monokuma slipped away, leaving a furious Makoto.

His anger quickly dissolved into realization. Kyoko’s memories, her notebook, these interviews, Mukuro, the photos.

Did they all forget too? When they first came to this place, did they all forget?

 

_ Ding Dong Bing Bong! _

 

“With every beginning brings a new end. With every end a new beginning. With every hope, new despair. Could everyone please report to the Symbol of Strength statue in the entrance hall? Thank you!”

 

One by one, they all piled towards the statue. A giant golden bear, it’s size great and it’s might even greater. And inscribed on the plaque below, read ‘Aut viam inveniam aut faciam.’ I will find a way, or I will make one.

That was what Makoto was going to do. 5 other students gathered around him as the elevator showed itself. 6 students were going to find a way, or they would make one. Dead or Alive, they would make a way, and end this Killing Game once and for all.

As the elevator descended, the students eyed each other warily, as if afraid of something primal and natural. Makoto briefly wondered what they were so afraid of, his hand balling into a fist around his motive.

_ Remember, you wanted this killing game. _ So he had to end it. He couldn't remember why, or if he wanted this. But he knew one thing. That he had to be the one to end it.

 

\---

 

“Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Are you ready for the end of your world?!” Monokuma cheered, from his throne.

“Let’s get straight to the point,” Kyoko spoke. “As we all know, this will be the final Class Trial.”

“Thanks for the segway, Miss Kirigiri! I was just saying, I’m imposing a SPECIAL RULE!!” The class collectively tensed up, looking at the bear in his throne. “As you’ve already said, I will let you leave if you can somehow possibly beat me,”

Monokuma grinned a victorious grin. “But as a special twist, I MYSELF will take the Thrilling Killing Chilling ULTIMATE PUNISHMENT!”

“You’ll execute yourself? No wiggling out of it? No excuses? No last minute rules?” Celeste said, leaning over her podium.

“I’m a bear of my word, Miss Ludenberg!” Monokuma’s paw reached over to the side of his throne, pulling a lever as it slid forward, lining up with the empty 16th trial seat. “Now, let’s get straight to it! Let the FINAL class trial, begin!”

“Now, Monokuma, I’d like to ask a question,” Toko stated. “Is the mastermind just one person?!”

“Hmm?” The bear responded, seemingly confused.

“ADMIT IT! YOU’VE ALL BEEN WORKING AGAINST ME SINCE THE FUCKIN BEGINNING!”

“Toko, where is this coming from?” Celeste asked, Toko just lept into anger as a response.

“I HAVE EVIDENCE! IRREFUTABLE EVIDENCE!” She screamed back.

“Don’t step on my line! I have evidence as well!” Hina shouted.

“I don’t want to believe it, but when I have something against you all I want to present,” Chihiro affirmed.

“As much as I hate to admit it, I have evidence as well ” Celeste added.

“What are you all talking about?!” Makoto shouted, making everyone turn to him.

“Toko, present your evidence,” Kyoko stated. 

“Y-yeah!” Toko slammed down a single photo. “See?! Every single one of you is in this picture! Even that dead Mukuro chick! Everyone except for ME!” She wasn’t wrong. The picture depicted all 16 students, with the single exception of Toko. It was in a classroom, with no boarded windows. Mukuro was there again, hunched over a textbook. Junko talked to Celeste off in a corner, her back facing the camera. Himself and Leon chatted, with Sayaka walking over to Mukuro. Kirigiri took furious notes on nothing, Hina was in Sakura’s lap, eating donuts. It looked happy. But sure enough, Toko wasn’t there.

“...Mine looks like that! Except in my photo, I’m not in it, and you are!” Hina showed her photo, showing 15 students running track. Junko was checking her phone next to a tree, Mukuro looking over her shoulder. Sakura dashed around a track, and Makoto himself lagged behind, right in her path. It was happy. But sure enough, Hina wasn’t there.

“Your...motives?” Makoto stated, pulling out his own photo. “I mean, I’m not in my own photo, and all of you are…”

“Monokuma, you did this right? You laid a trap for all of us.” Kyoko stated.

“A TRAP?! HOW RUDE! What grounds could you ever have?!” Monokuma shouted.

“Whoever received the photo is the only one not present!” Makoto shouted. “You purposefully designed the photos to pit us against each other!”

“I can confirm that,” Celeste brandished her photo. It showed the 15 of them, swimming in the pool. Junko’s face wasn’t visible, as Leon was accidentally splashing water into her face, with a look of pure fear on his face. Even Mukuro was in the water, the exceptions being Toko, who was running towards the camera, and Celeste, who wasn’t there. It looked happy, but sure enough, Celeste wasn’t there.

“Monokuma gave us group photos, and the recipient was the only one in them! It was a purposeful act to pit us against each other.” Kyoko stated, her voice succinct.

“Puhuhuhu...I’m surprised you’ve already figured it out!”

“I want to look at all the photos again. Makoto stated. “There’s something I’d like to confirm.”

“Can we just forget about the photos? Trying to trick us with such fabricated atrocities! Makes me sick!”

“Monokuma even went through the trouble to put us in those matching uniforms...” Chihiro added.

“...’Fake’? Oh no, I assure you, those are very very very  _ real _ !” Monokuma giggled. “Have I ever lied to you?”

“YES! YOU HAVE!” Hina shouted.

“There’s no way those are real!” Toko affirmed.  
“I have no memory of ever being in one of those photos. Celeste stated. “No memory at all.”

“We can’t be so sure!” Makoto cut in. “I’m not saying I remember posing for this picture or even taking one, but is that enough to say that it’s positively the truth?”

“What the hell are you saying?!” Toko shouted.

“Kyoko. Can you explain?” Kyoko nodded her head in understanding.

“Toko, I myself had my memories taken from me.” Celeste looked over, incredulously worried. “The second I entered the academy, I forgot a lot of things, including my talent.”

“So...it’s not out of the realm of possibility that things were taken from us, too…” Celeste trailed off.

“WHAT THE FUCK?! YOU’RE CLAIMING THAT WE ALL GOT SPONTANEOUS AMNESIA?! THAT’S COMPLETE NONSENSE!” Toko’s voice ripped through the air, hitting Makoto square in the chest.

“I remember everything! Everything that’s happened to me since I got here!”

“The photos aren’t the only thing that suggests memory loss.” Kyoko leaned forward, taking the Interview DVD into her hands. “Monokuma, could you play this?”

“No need for the disc, Miss Kirigiri! I’ve got it recorded~” Monokuma turned to the screens, as they lit up with the same chilling video Makoto had watched.

“This is a video of all of us being interviewed by Hope’s Peak’s headmaster.”

“But, by all of us,”

“I mean all of us.” The screen fast forwarded between all of the students, only briefly pausing on the ones remaining alive.

“We have no evidence to refute it. We should accept it as fact until new facts arise.” Celeste stated eloquently.

“This is AMNESIA! No way we ALL got amnesia at THE SAME TIME!”

“Enough about the amnesia!” Chihiro exclaimed. “Kyoko, what were these interviews, about?”

“Mr. Kiri-” She corrected herself. “The Headmaster all asked us the same question. ‘You could very well end up spending the rest of your life here. Are you okay with that?’.”

“What the hell?! Obviously, we’d say no!” Toko shouted.

“That’s wrong. All of us agreed.” Makoto stated, grimly. He wrung his hands as the screen flickered between 14 students. All of them simply said ‘Yes’.

“But...why would we all say yes to something like that?” Chihiro asked, her voice quiet.

“Don’t ask me! I don’t  _ remember _ anything!” Makoto responded.

“Does anyone else recall this event?” Celeste asked. No one moved or answered.

“So none of us remember choosing to live here forever?” Kyoko stated.

“But! But! BUT THAT’S JUST INSANE?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO JUST ACCEPT THAT THAT’S RIGHT?!”

“You better get to it, Miss Fukawa! Because that is all 100% CORRECT!” Monokuma giggled.

“What? WHAT?!” Hina yelled.

“I know it sounds insane, but it’s all correct. It’s all a truth we have to accept.”

“Yup! You all lost your memory! At the same exact time!” Monokuma cheered. “Isn’t it just SPINE CHILLING?!”

“We didn’t just lose these memories...You stole those specific memories from us, didn’t you?” Kyoko spat.

“Whoops! Guess you got that down too, huh?”

“Obviously. None of us could’ve gotten amnesia at the same time. And erasing more from me was just an extra perk.” The disdain in Kyoko’s voice was the most extreme he’d ever head from her.

“But how could someone just take specific memories?” Chihiro asked.

“How? HOW? MISS FUJISAKI, THE HOW HARDLY MATTERS! JUST ACCEPT IT AND GET OVER IT! Maybe we cracked open your skull and messed with your brain? Maybe we used brainwashing? Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter right now!”

“It doesn’t matter how he did it, it matters what memories we lost,” Celeste said.

“Oh Miss Ludenberg, the voice of reason, I knew I could count on you!”

“We can’t have lost only the memories of that photo and those interviews. No, there has to be more. Much, much more.” Celeste stated, leaning over her podium. “The mastermind had to have a reason. Why would we need to forget those specific memories?”

“DUHHH! There’s a purpose! It’s all to do with that first motive you all received!”

“The motive video…?” Chihiro questioned. “How does this tie into anything?”

“Those motives have something to do with our memories?” Kyoko questioned.

“Puhuhuhu, I’ve already said too much! But, we’re getting off track! For now, let’s focus on the murder of Mukuro Ikusaba! That’s why we’re here, right?”

“The identity of the mastermind and the killer are one and the same,” Kyoko stated a smile on her face.  
“How can you be so sure?” Chihiro questioned, a finger on her chin.

“The tarp. The tarp that was used to cover Mukuro was found in the toolshed. On the bottom was a “Bio Lab” logo.” Celeste rambled. “No one but the mastermind had access to the Bio Lab before Mukuro was killed. No one except the Mastermind.”

“But, how do we know the Mastermind is even in the school? They’d probably be a million miles away, right?!” Toko feverishly asked.

“No! The Monokuma room! I and Makoto found a room from which the Mastermind controls Monokuma, and that means they have to be in the school!” Hina answered.

“We also know that the Mastermind was one of the 16 students that came here with us…” Chihiro added.

“And that the mastermind had an accomplice; Mukuro,” Kyoko stated.

“But first, we need to figure out who could’ve killed Mukuro,” Makoto said.

“Well, we haven’t quite established what Mukuro’s fatal injury was,” Kyoko said.

“Wasn’t it the arrows? They were slammed across her head, right?” Chihiro questioned.

“Incorrect. While in the Bio Lab, I had the chance to examine Mukuro’s body. I deduced that the knife wound, hanging, and arrow wounds were all inflicted post-mortem.” Kyoko said, a grin returning to her face.

“So...all that’s left are those various wounds, but they were listed as taking place a few days ago!” Chihiro shouted. “Those can’t possibly be what killed her!”

“Consider this,” Makoto started. “What if the murder itself happened a few days ago?”

“But! There were tons of wounds she would’ve sustained via her days in combat!” Toko refuted.

“Please recall her file. They clearly stated that Mukuro had sustained no such injuries before coming to the school.” Celeste said.

“The only possible explanation is that those wounds killed her,” Kyoko stated.

“Mukuro had been dead for several days.” Makoto mused. “So, the masked attacker,”

“Was the mastermind.” Kyoko finished for him.

“Puhuhuhu…” Monokuma laughed.

“Why the hell are you giggling?!” Toko shouted.

“Your assumption that I attacked Makoto is just that! An assumption!” Monokuma chuckled. “You have absolutely no proof that the attacker wasn’t Mukuro!”

“You’ve got that wrong!” Makoto responded. “Mukuro’s Fenrir Tattoo was in no way present on the attacker. I clearly say their right hand, and her tattoo was not there.”

“Hnnnh, fine, but that doesn’t mean that-”

“Me, Hina, Toko, and Chihiro all have alibis. It could only have been you.” Celeste stated. Monokuma groaned in disappointment.

“But what about Kyoko! It could’ve easily been her!”

Kyoko didn’t respond. She just stared. She just stared, and reached for her right glove, peeling it off to reveal a hand that was hardly identifiable as a hand. Her skin was covered in deep burn scars, incredibly old, but definitely still painful.

“See? No tattoo.” Kyoko slipped the glove back on and crossed her arms. Celeste gave her a sorry look from across the trial grounds, stopping herself from outstretching an arm. “The only suspect left is the Mastermind.”

“Puhuhuhu…” Monokuma sadly giggled. “Welp! Y’all got me! But the circumstances around Mukuro’s death are still totally unknown!”

“She had to have died before we got here, right?” 

“I assure you, Mukuro died after our killing game began!”

“Mukuro was kept in the bio lab and moved to the garden. She died from wounds all over her body. But there’s something in the Bio Lab we need to discuss.”

“A-and? That is?” Monokuma stuttered. “Come on, out w-with it!”

“There is one major inconsistency in the Bio Lab that relates to the Mastermind’s identity.”

“What? Kyoko, are you talking abo-”

“Hey Makoto, what about your sister?”

“What?” Monokuma’s words stopped him straight in his tracks.

“Remember? Your motive video? Your sweet darling sister? Whisked away before your eyes?”

“Makoto, stay focused, he’s just trying to get in your head,” Kyoko stated. “What inconsistency am I talking about?”

“The lights! The refrigerator/morgue had a light system. Blue lights mean they are cooling bodies.”

“So the amount of blue lights means the number of dead bodies,” Celeste affirmed.

“There were only nine lights, though,” Makoto stated. “There were nine lights, but ten victims.”

“NNNGHHH!!!” Monokuma groaned.

“Ten people died. Leon, Junko, Sayaka, Byakuya, Taka, Hagakure, Mondo, Hifumi, Sakura, and Mukuro.” Celeste stated.

“So, the mastermind just destroyed a body to cover evidence?” Hina inquired.

“No,” Kyoko stated. “The true fact is, only 9 people died.” Her excited grin returned.

“...what?” Chihiro questioned.

“Mukuro Ikusaba, before she was killed as Mukuro Ikusaba, was killed as someone else.”

“No no no, that's crazy talk! She was killed as someone else? Come on!” Monokuma screamed. “Miss Kirigiri's totally delusional!”

“Look at the injuries on her body. They’re familiar. Too close to another death.”

Lots of sharp objects must have pierced the body from all angles. Chest, stomach, legs, everywhere. Makoto’s eyes widened. “Junko...Junko Enoshima!”  
“What do you mean...?” Hina asked.

“Junko was impaled with spears all over her body!” Makoto said, excited. “And Mukuro, she died from a number of wounds from all angles! Aren’t those wounds pretty similar?”

“So let’s clear this all up,” Celeste stated. “Mukuro, for whatever reason, disguised herself as Junko and was executed my Monokuma.” She turned to Kyoko. “Her body was then kept in the Bio Lab for however long, and being presented as a different body. The body of Mukuro Ikusaba.”

“But...what does this all mean?!” Toko shouted.

“It means, the one person we thought was dead, is still alive. Junko Enoshima.”

“But, we SAW her die!”

“We saw Mukuro Ikusaba die.” Makoto clarified. “They simply…”

“They switched places. We had already clarified that she was an accomplice of the Ultimate Despair. It wouldn’t be too hard to believe that she had made a deal with the Mastermind.” Kyoko stated.

“And that mastermind was Junko Enoshima!” Makoto shouted.  
  
"You...haven't...proved anything! I need more evidence! GIVE ME MORE EVIDENCE!" Monokuma shreicked.  
  
"Here's something. Look at the group photos. In all of them, Junko's face is hidden from view. You could've easily done that."  
  
"When I was watching the interviews, YOU blocked the feed before Junko's interview could come on!"  
  
Monokuma didn’t react.  


He didn’t move. He didn’t move, just sat there and watched.

“What’s wrong, given up already?” Celeste asked.

“Puhuhuhu…” Monokuma giggled, a human, real giggle. One devoid of his usual robotic candor. “Did you really...think you’ve won?

  
“What are you talking about?” Kirigiri responded. “We’ve figured you out! Just give it up.”

  
“Puhuhuhu…” Monokuma’s voice drifted away from his place on high, as the laughing resumed, with no filter.

And a girl sat in his place. A golden crown placed atop her head, and a golden Monokuma-Cane in her hand, Junko Enoshima sat atop her throne, legs draped over the armrests and an impossibly wide grin on her face. A bright pink and black cape ran over the side of her throne, her cropped waistcoat patterned with card suits. Hairpins of a hopeful bear and a despairing bear held up her pigtails.

“At Long Last!” She spoke, her voice one of a queen surveying peasants. “Finally, someone has figured us out! You have simply no idea how long it takes people to even GUESS our true identity.”

Junko’s voice dipped into a low, calculated drawl. “It’s a bit of a cliche, I know, but sometimes a plot twist is just too good to pass up..."

She whipped around wildly, practically screaming her words. “NOW HOLD ONTO YOUR FLAT ASSES MOTHERFUCKERS! **IT’S ME! JUNKO ENOSHIMA, THE ULTIMATE DESPAIR!”**


	14. White and Black, Black and White-HOPE LIFE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was such a wild ride and it's over! Thanks for sticking with this! See ya next time in SDR2!

**_“A body has been discovered!”_ **

 

Junko Enoshima sat atop her throne, smiling at 6 students. She used to be one, Makoto knew that. But everything about her screamed evil queen.

The Ultimate Despair, wore a black waistcoat with red buttons, over a puffy white shirt with crossed out zero symbols patterning it. A Monokuma bowtie was wrapped around her neck. She twirled a golden cane with a King Monokuma head. A long black and white cape hung behind her, along with a glistening crown. She wore torn black opera gloves, with black fishnet stockings and black heels.

“So? Are you surprised? Are you shocked? I thought you’d be! I know everyone watching is!” Junko cackled, rocking back and forth on her throne.

“It’s like, she’s different people...” Toko said, aghast.

“Really?” Junko’s demeanor instantly changed, her voice now calm, calculated, and concise. She leaned forward, digging the base of her cane into her foot. “You’re one to talk, Toko.”

“Why are you acting like this?” Makoto pleaded, but Junko just laughed.

“Don’t worry about me, Makoto.” Two fingers pretended to push up glasses that weren’t there. “I get so bored sometimes. I simply get bored of myself.”

“But, your face…” Hina whispered.

“Huh? What about my face?” Her voice dropped, changing into a calculated tone, placing her head in her hand. “I’ve been told I have the cutest, prettiest face ever seen…”

“I...I’ve seen your face before! On magazines!” Hina shouted. “But...you looked kinda different…”

“Exactly…” Junko sniffed, rubbing her hands down her face. “I was simply too beautiful...and _Muck_ uro just simply couldn’t hold up the roleeeeee…”

“ ‘Muckuro’?” Kyoko inquired, and Junko was suddenly happy and peppy, jumping all over the place.

“Mmm-hmm! Mmm-hmm! Mukuro is Mukuro! And Junko is Junko!” She reached behind her throne and grabbed Monokuma, tucking it under her arm. “And sadly, Mucky Mukuro is NOT an Ultimate Fashionista! (o_ _)ﾉ彡☆”

Briefly wondering how she made that sound with her mouth, Makoto spoke. “So that explains it all. It wasn’t photoshopping, they were really different people.”

“Wow! Wow! Wow! Try to keep up, Makoto! We figured that out literally 4 minutes ago!!!” Then Junko returned to cold and calm. “Mukuro couldn’t pass as a Fashionista. Two people can never become one as long as the walls of mind and body exist... Not even if they're twins.”

“Twins?! You, you were sisters?!” Celeste asked, a hand over her mouth.

“Yup. Me and Mukuro were sisters of total Despair. Honestly, it’s almost too cliche to admit it, but the truth is the truth.” Junko lightly slapped her cheeks. “The older, proud, and _greasy_ sister. And the younger, bolder, stronger, more despairful younger sister.”

“SO! GUESS WHICH ONE I WAS?!” Junko laughed, pointing a hand to her head as the screens behind her illuminated to read: ‘JUNKO! JUNKO! JUNKO! JUNKO!!!’.

“She’s like, a bunch of different people in one body!” Hina exclaimed. “Is this really cause she’s...bored?”  
“But! If you’re twins, then, then, why do you have different last names?” Toko shouted.

“AUGHHHHHH!!! DO YOU HAVE ANY FUCKIN IDEA HOW MANY TIMES I GET ASKED THAT SHIT?! LIKE I FUCKING CARE, JUST PICK WHATEVER EXPLANATION YOU WANT!!”

“But...you...you killed your own sister?” Chihiro stated, close to tears. "How could, one person even do that?!"

“Well, allow me to explain, Chihiro.” She snapped into one position again. “For my plan to work, someone had to be able to control the killing game from behind the scenes.”

“The ‘Mastermind’, (pardon my use of your term), had to operate Monokuma, monitor the school, housekeeping.” Junko reached into her hair and pulled a pen from somewhere, and proceeded to write notes in the air. “I quickly determined that Mukuro would be unable to perform such tasks. Because naturally, she was the letdown of the Enoshima bloodline.”

“...Letdown?”

“Leaving me behind to run off and join some band of mercenaries... Such a disappointment...” She trailed off, tossing her pen at Mukuro’s effigy, causing it to topple over, ink blotches covering her face. “So, I decided to play the role of director and have her join the rest of you in your school life.” Junko cleared her throat.

“I could have let her work alongside me, of course, but what work could she have done behind the scenes that way? And obviously, her status as a Soldier posed...a problem.” Junko’s face twisted into a grimace. “Mukuro was greasy, smelly, and of course, a horrible actress. But my Ultimate Fashionista status has a unique charm I wouldn’t want to go to waste.”

“So, you switched identities? Because you hated your sister?” Celeste asked.

“Mukuro was a mucky actress, and was impossibly poor at mimicking my behavior.” She deadpanned. “Mukuro Ikusaba was a bit player. An extra, unworthy of lines. She was boring, and no one likes being bored. Killing her off early would be ideal. It’s just what everyone was expecting.”

“That...that’s not it, right? That’s not your only reason, right?” Chihiro pleaded.

“Incorrect. I also did it to avoid becoming bored.” Junko stated, before whirling around with a giant cutesy grin on her face.

“I’ve never really been a big fan of plans y’know? If I knew everything about what’s gonna happen, that’d just be SOOOOOOO BORING!!! So, I changed things just a bit, and decided to use Mucky Mucky Mukuro to make a little point!”

“Mukuro Ikusaba’s murder was an act of raw betrayal.” Kyoko stated. “She must’ve been as surprised as everyone else.”

“PUHUHUHUHU!!! She was soo funny!! ‘Why...me?’ HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! There’s no way my failure of a sister could pull off a performance so convincing! But she did teach you all a very valuable lesson, don't you think? o(>ω<)o”

“How...how can you talk like that? How can you just kill your sister and feel, NOTHING?!” Hina shouted.

“...Nothing?” Junko lugged on her pigtails, making herself wince. “Hey...don’t say I didn’t feel nothing...we were the Ultimate Despair...when I was born, all I ever felt was Ultimate Despair…” Junko sighed. “We’re just those kinds of people...it’s not really a big deal if we die or kill...it’s all in the name of despair, anyhow…”

“So...you just killed your own sister? And...that’s it?”

“BuT THAT’S NOT ALL!!!” Junko kicked her legs into the air, with a hoot. “Could you imagine?! Killing your own sister on a whim, with no reason too?! Why, it’d give myself so much DesPAIR!!!”

“What is wrong with you?!” Kyoko shouted.

“But don’t change that channel! Because Mukuro was also all for that DeSpAiR!!! I can’t even imagine all that despair she would’ve felt, knowing her own sister killed her!!” Junko gave a breathy sigh. “I’m so jealous!! Aren’t you???”

“Turning your own despair into some kind of fetish... Horrible doesn't even begin to describe it.” Kyoko spat.

“Like, genocider is crazy, but this is a whole other level!” Hina agreed. "You're...you're just HOPELESS!"  
  
“So I'm hopelessly attractive? Hopelessly brilliant? Hopelessly athletic...? I'm the hopelessly perfect ultimate human?”

“There is nothing perfect about you.” Celeste spat. “Besides, everyone here is leagues more successful than you.”

“That’s the wrong tense! Don’t you mean, _was_ leagues more successful?!”

“What?” Celeste asked.

“Puhuhuhuhu!!” Junko cackled, moving Monokuma in front of her face. “You still haven't figured that part out yet? Man you guys are so sloooow! You haven't even solved all the mysteries, and yet here you are, yap-yap-yapping away!”

“You’re talking about our memories?” Kyoko questioned.

“You've already solved this mystery, right? I'm the killer!! So how about the next one? Maybe you should solve the riddle of your missing memories, *then* you can start gloating.”

“We’ll uncover all of your mysteries! Then we’ll get out of here!”

“Puhuhuhuhu!!! I can’t wait.”

“Okay, let’s get straight to the point! What memories did you steal from us?!” Hina shouted.

“Did you seriously ask me that?” Junko stated. “I’m not gonna tell you, IDIOT! I already gave you a hint, dummies!”

“...About our motives?” Kyoko asked.

“DING! DING! DING! Kirigiri hits it straight on the head!” Junko laughed, before snapping into a deadpanning position.

“You do remember then, so tell me, what were the motives I presented to you?”

“...The motive videos were about our family and friends. The closest people to us.” Chihiro stated. “For instance, I saw my dad, in his lab.”

“Good job. But what’s next?” Junko asked.

“Secrets, right?” Toko inquired. “For instance, mine was about that Scissor-Wench!”

“Mmm-hmm!!!! So what’s next????”

“Money. It helped me justify manipulating Hifumi and Hiro.” Celeste said, clutching her arms in embarrassment.

“DAMN STRAIGHT!!! SO WHAT WENT ON NEXT?!”

“Betrayal...Sakura was the traitor, and her betrayal was the motive…” Hina sighed.

“Wow...I can’t believe you hit all the marks…” Junko whined. “But now you’ve got all of them right!”

“But why does it matter?!” Celeste asked.

“Love, Secrets, Money, Betrayal! These are all common motives for killing! This is what we call the seed of despair!”

“Seed...of despair?” Kyoko questioned.

“The one thing that can grow Despair, is Hope! If you have Hope, it’s only a matter of time before they grow into despair!’ Junko returned to her royal candor.

“...How much longer is this stupid speech of yours? Weren't we discussing our missing memories? Why are you trying to change the subject?”

“If you would pay any attention, then we never changed the subject, you peasant!” Junko mused. “The seed of despair is completely tied to your missing memories!”

“Y-you aren’t making any sense!” Toko shouted.

“Well,” she pretended to adjust non-existent glasses. “You see, by taking away your memories, I gave you hope. Of course, that hope merely existed to be consumed by despair.”

“What?! How can you give someone hope by taking away memories?”

“You never gave us hope! You haven’t done ANYTHING for any of us!” Makoto screamed.

“Is that really so? Think about it. You have no memories of the outside world, and you’ve been trying so hard to get out. Without your memories, all you’d wanted to do is escape this place.”

“What are you rambling about?” Celeste spoke.

“If none of you wanted to escape this school, the killings never would have taken place.” Junko laughed, striking a power pose. “That is why we took your memories--so that you would have the desire to leave!”

“If we had our memories...we wouldn’t want to leave?” Kyoko asked.

“A most troubling thought isn't it???” Junko mocked. “But it's not enough!!! I want simply more distress! MORE DESPAIRFUL DESPAIR!!! I put so much effort into creating hope in order to feed your despair and make it grow... So, just like Crazy Eddie slashing his prices and passing the savings on to you, lemme give you a hint!” Junko cackled, putting the back of her hand up to her mouth.

“What?” Chihiro inquired. “Well hurry it up!”

“Welp! You know what they say! Seeing is believing!” Junko stated. “Drum roll, please! I’d like to present to you, the outside world!”

 

The screens flickered. It was, horrifying. Statues around the world, overwritten with Monokuma. Egypt, France, cities and places around the world, with Monokuma crudely overwriting their memories. Giant monokumas smashed skyscrapers. Giant Monokumas blocked out the sun. Giant monokumas killed, and giant monokumas spread Despair. Gangs of people wearing Monokuma heads killed, spread despair, and destroyed. The outside world was just Despair.

 

“...What…?” Makoto stated, his voice breathy and desperate. He couldn’t see this. He couldn’t stand this.

“Dangerous... The world has grown so very dangerous. That's what this all means...”

“What are you talking about?! Absolutely NONE of this makes sense!” Hina yelled.

“What the hell am I looking at?! It’s completely nothing! It’s ALL FAKE!”

“What are y’all talking bout!!! You should all recognize this!!” Junko huffed.

"We should recognize this? What about it should we recognize?" Hina questioned.

“The memories we took from you peasants, the history of our outside world, is locked away within those stolen memories!”

“NOW COME THE FUCK ON!!! REMEMBER!!! IM GETTING BORED TO DEATH, YOU BITCHES!!!”

“There’s no way we can just remember!!  You can’t just tell us to remember! NO ONE HERE CAN REMEMBER! WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!” Toko screeched.

“Wait. Toko, that’s wrong.” Kyoko stated. “Syo. She remembers.”

“Their memory isn’t linked. If Toko’s memory got wiped, then Syo’s memory might still be intact.” Makoto added.

“Please, Toko, can you switch places with her?” Chihiro asked.

“But! That’s what that would be like,”

“Please. Toko, this is our last hope.” Celeste pleaded, and Toko, begrudgingly, slowly took a braid in her hands and rubbed the tip of it next to her nose. Toko sneezed, and someone else took her place.

“DA DADA DUNNN!!! YOU CALLED UPON ME AND I APPEARED! YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SERIAL KILLER!!” Syo yelled, cackling.

“Syo, could you look at that video playing?” Celeste requested.

“Anything for you sweet cheeks!” Syo looked up, staring at the video, and no shock appeared on her features. “Idk what you’re trying to get me to talk about, is this just some kinda current events video reel?”

“You remember it?! Really?!” Chihiro asked, incredulously.

“Of course I do!!!” Syo exclaimed.

“But why didn’t you tell anyone?!”

“I only answer questions when someone bothers to ask me! I'm that quiet type of gal, ya know?!” Syo obviously lied.

“But, if you do remember, what happened out there?” Celeste requested.

“Did Y'all really forget?! Did you really forget the Tragedy?” She turned to Junko. “Who’re ya?!”

“The Mastermind…”

“Oh cool! Pleased to meet you!”

“The tragedy?” Celeste asked, clinging to her podium for dear life.

“OH NO!!! Did you all really forget?!” Syo shouted. “It just happened so recently, though!”

“It happened recently? Syo. Explain, now.” Kyoko yelled.

“Well, it hasn’t really happened,” Syo stated. “It’s still happening in all honesty!”

“What are you talking about?!” Makoto shouted. Syo simply cackled.

“You heard me! The biggest, most awful, most tragic event in human history is still happening!!”

“What are you…”

“GET IT THROUGH YOUR SICK SKULL!! THIS IS JUST THE WAY THE WORLD IS NOW!!!”

“BYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! SHE’S TOTALLY RIGHT BIOTCH!” Junko screamed. “The world's been destroyed, get it!? THERE’S NOTHING LEFT FOR YOU!!”

“Lemme explains, just real quick,” Syo stated. “Okay, so, this big, awful, tragic event--they started just calling it the Tragedy--happened about a year ago! It was so big and bad that even this murderous fiend went pale at the sight of it!! I guess you could say what happened was man-made…” Syo sighed. “But it was more on the level of a worldwide natural disaster!” Syo suddenly looked saddened, something that was shocking for Makoto sees on her features. “Either way, there's no doubt that it was the biggest, most awful, most tragic event in human history. And as a result, in basically no time flat, the world was total garbage...”

“That’s it?! Come on, you have to give us more than that!” Hina exclaimed.

“WELL SORREE! Miss Morose saw it all play it out real time, so why not ask her!”

“We really can’t right now,” Celeste said through gritted teeth.

“Shuddup already...whatever happened, it doesn't really matter, right?” Junko mused.

“Gyahhh!!! The ends TOTES justify the means! What you guys have yet to get through your thick skulls is that the world is totally DONEZO!!” Junko squealed, laughing from her throne.

“H-How can the world just up and end!? It’s the goddamn world!” Hina screamed.

“Don’t worry about it. Everyone here will be dead in 100 years, so the world ending isn’t that big of a deal...”

“How…” Makoto said. “How can you talk like that?” He stared up at the queen on high. “How can you just tell us that lives don’t mean anything to you?! And all with that, fucking smile on your face!” Junko didn’t respond. “HUH?! How can you be so broken inside, how so you find all this amusing! ANSWER ME!”

“Puhuhuhu…” Junko giggled. “Puhuhuhuhu, PUHUHUHUHUHU!!!” She cackled, slamming her armrests like that was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. “How can I be so BROKEN INSIDE?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” She laughed, and she laughed and laughed and laughed. But, it wasn't that funny.

“Makoto, the answer is simple.” Junko smiled. She smiled a horrible smile that reached from ear to ear. “I got bored. I got bored, and this is the way the world is now. Has been for a year or so! It’s a record! You mean nothing to this story, Makoto! You’re the talentless, defenseless, Makoto Naegi! You mean nothing to the world!”

Makoto heaved, taking a breath felt like running a marathon. As he was hyper-analyzing everything he’d just heard, he paused. “What do you mean, a year ago. That’s impossible.”

“Impossible?!” Junko said with a fabricated tone of shock. “Are you really in a position to be telling me what’s impossible, Makoto?”

“We only arrived at this school a month or so ago! And there was no tragedy then!”

“You sure about that?” Junko smugly stated.

“...What?”

“It’s a simple question, Mr. Naegi!” Junko pulled Monokuma over her face. “Are you sure about that?”

“There’s...no way that the tragedy happened before we got here!”

“Ohh, I get it! You're saying that what happened two years ago actually happened more recently! Right?”

“What…?”

“Well, I mean...you guys all started attending Hope's Peak Academy two years ago,” Junko stated, flicking into a cold tone.

“What, the fuck are you trying to say?” Celeste said, her accent melting.

“Explain. Now.”

“Well, Kyoko, you cannot deny that this is the truth. And that truth is, everything is cause and effect. Deny that, and you may as well give yourself up to God.” Junko pretended to wipe glasses off on her cape.

“So, you MUST surely understand all the hints we've given you so far, right? What are the memories we took from you peasants?”

“The last two years?” Hina panted, her voice heavy.

“We, were actually students here? This isn’t happening, right? Right?!” Chihiro pleaded.

“If we accept that what you say is true...then we've all lost our memories of the last two years, after coming to this school,” Kyoko stated, her chest rising and falling with every breath.

“Ugh! Another correct answer! Well done, peasant,” Junko groaned, staring down Kyoko.

“WHAT?! THAT, THAT CAN’T BE TRUE!” Chihiro screamed. Chihiro’s hands clung to her hair.

“That not possible! That doesn’t make any sense!” Hina shouted, grabbing at her arms.

“I...I don’t believe it! I won’t believe it!” Celeste screamed.

“Well, you’re just being stupid then, it’s the truth.” Junko spat. "Puhuhuhu!! Remember Mondo? He was all like 'ooooohhhh noooo my big gay crush died and now im sadddd i feel like i remembered himmmmmm...' thing is! HE DID! HIS MEMORIES OF HOPE'S PEAK RETURNED, although in fragments."

“Two years worth of memories,” Celeste stated. “I would never lose something like that!”

“This doesn’t make much sense, we’ve never gone to classes, we’ve never done anything here!? We’ve never-We’ve never!” Kyoko yelled, near to hyperventilation.

“Kyoko? Kyoko are you okay?!” Celeste yelled, extending an arm over the podium to the Detective. “Kyoko!”

“Kyoko, I have proof you’ve gone to classes here!” Makoto said. “You just have to trust me, I have evidence I swear!”

Kyoko looked at him, then whipped her head around to Celeste, with tears stinging in the Gambler’s eyes. “You’re… You’re talking about my pocketbook, right?”

“Yes! Yes, I am!” Kyoko took heavy breaths, her hand clinging to her chest. “That pocketbook has notes from you, during classes.”

“Puhuhuhuhuhu, After seeing all the evidence, do you have any choice but to acknowledge the truth?” Junko mused, biting her lip.

“Isn't it just so desperately fuckin dark?! The mystery's solved, but it's like a goddamn funeral in here! Shit man, I've never been to a funeral... Hell FUCKING yes!” Junko screamed and cackled.

No one spoke.

“How many relationships did you lose? How many blossoming moments of youth was lost, how many fun classes? How many school events? And on top of that, something tragically sad happened one year ago... The biggest, most awful, most tragic event in human history.”

“The world was trashed, and so were we! And once you'd forgotten, you made the choice to subject yourselves to this killing game!”

“Actually, never mind. I'm bored. Explaining stuff is boring…”

“We are so very bored of this world! So very bored with your BORING hope!”

“What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean, Junko?”

“GOD! THIS WORLD IS SO FUCKIN BORING!!!”  
  
“I know right, isn’t it awful? I’m so jealous…”

“Awww, Junko! Jealous, why?”

“To give yourself over so completely to such stimulating despair…”

“Wouldn’t it be so amazing?! To feel such DESPAIR!”

“Yeah, so figure out the rest for yourselves! I'm sick of expositioning all this shit!”

No one talked. Junko, rambling to herself, starting laughing.

“Figure out...what?” Kyoko asked.

“Where you lost your memories. When and where, did you lose your memories?”

Makoto’s eyes widened. Kyoko, she lost her memories when she entered the academy. So everyone else. “When we came here, that was 2 years ago.”

“Yeah, we knew that,”

“No. That day when we first came here, we lost our memory for two years. When I passed out...I was overcome with a strange sensation,” Makoto stated.

“Wow, so you still have the spirit to keep talking? Sooooo boring! But you’re not wrong!!” Junko cheered.

“The reason it felt so short was that our memories of the time in between had been completely removed?” Chihiro asked.

“BOOYAH, HONEY!!! WHEN ALL OF YOU MET EACH OTHER, IT WASN’T FOR THE FIRST TIME! YOU HAD BEEN FRIENDS FOR TWO WHOLE YEARS!!”

“That's what those photos are about, isn't it? Those years, that’s where those photos came from, right?” Kyoko said.

“Puhuhuuhuhu!!! That’s correct! Friends for so long, but then, you killed each other!”

“But you did this to all of us. We didn’t do anything.”

Junko sighed. “I love you all soooo much,”

“...What?”

“I love you guys so much, the despair I made you feel as you killed each other, I was really doing you all a favor,”

“But, how did the Tragedy even happen?” Chihiro questioned. “How?!”

“It was because of you, to be honest. You all had so much happiness in hope during your school life, and I already wanted so much despair…”

“It didn’t take long to be honest!!! Me and Mukuro, we dragged the world into darkness and despair!!! It was too good!!”

“What, are you?” Kyoko furiously asked.

“What? Don’t understand the question, hun.” Junko responded.

“You caused the end of the world, that can’t be it. It’s wasn’t just you two, right? What was it, a mob? A family? A company?” Kyoko furiously asked, searching for a correct possibility.

“Despair is contagious you know. It's almost like...a natural phenomenon.” Junko stated. “Everyone is capable of it. And now the entire world has fallen into despair.”

“If Despair is your enemy, then your enemy is the WORLD ITSELF!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

“I just don't understand,” Kyoko said, her eyes falling.

“We didn’t ASK you to understand, you fool! We’re Despair itself! You aren’t supposed to understand!”

“But...let’s get back to the story already…”

“Yup Yup Yup! Now, someone suuuuuper important turned Hope’s Peak into a shelter! Ahhh!!! (*/▽＼*)”

“Mr. Kirigiri, he did it, right?” Kyoko said. “That’s what my pocketbook said, and what the video said, right?”

“We believe he had something like that in mind, that’s true! Maybe, if you lived, a new society of hope could survive!” Junko proclaimed.

“Puhuhu, it’s funny, to be quite honest! Despair had already been planted within Hope, what was meant to be a shelter became a cage. Saved me a ton of time, too!”

“Speaking of which, it was you yourself that blocked off the door and windows! You trapped yourself in here!”

“We even recorded it! When the people’s hope died, literally, plunged all of the worlds into complete DESPAIR!”

“You only let us survive...so we could die?” Chihiro asked.

“You just...used us? You just used us to spread Despair?!”

“Yeah, I thought I just said that, like a buncha times,” Junko stated.

“And there’s a reason I wanted you to survive! I loved you all so much,”

“Sorry, that’s a lie, just figured that when you found out I betrayed you, you would be more despairing.”

“You solved the mystery, just to find our secret truth of DESPAIR! How does that make you feel?!”

“You...you counted on us discovering your mystery?” Kyoko’s voice was barely there.

“And if we did? Our final desire for creating this world of despair was so we could experience one last class finale of a trial! If you were bold enough to solve our mystery, only to discover that hope never existed from the very beginning!!”

“DESPAIR is all there is!!”

“Truth can be full of despair, too! Like right fuckin' now!”

“Not to mention, all those motives I talked about were totally meaningless. I mean, with the world had ended and all…”  
  
“You chose to lock yourselves up here, then started murdering each other to get out…”

“You weren’t strangers either! You were classmates! Friends, even!!”

“No. No, NO!” Makoto shouted, cutting the Mastermind off.

“What are you talking about?” She spat back.

“You’ve been going on and on about despair, but we have no reason to believe in your false Despair! For all the people you’ve killed...I REFUSE TO GIVE INTO YOUR DESPAIR!”

“Everyone _I’ve_ killed??? You’ve been killing each other the whole time!!”

“IT DOESN’T MATTER! YOU STILL KILLED THEM! YOU DROVE US INTO THIS DESPAIR! _YOU_ STARTED THIS KILLING GAME! AND NOW IM GOING TO END IT!”

“Tch, such tiresome Hope...I suppose we have to be wrapping this up soon, now that you’ve introduced Hope…”

“What are you talking about?”

“VOTING TIME, OF COURSE!!!” Junko cackled. “You’re so full of hope, and I’m so full of Despair! So let’s put it to a vote! If even one of you votes for Hope, then I win! And all of you are punished!”

“Of course, I won’t be voting, but as a special punishment…” Junko grinned. “If hope is punished, you must live here, forever! That’s your execution.”

“You’ll just let us live?” Celeste asked.

“She’s just saying that we’ll live here forever?!” Syo shouted.

“If you can’t stand that, then Punish Despair, and kill me! And waltz off into a world that wants nothing to do with your stupid Hope!”

“Wait Wait Wait! Junko, Idea.” She said to herself. “What if, the Ultimate Hope among this group gets one super extra special punishment!! Makoto! How about it?!”

“What? I won’t agree to that!”

“Too bad you don’t have a choice!”

“Come on! We would never live here forever! It wouldn’t happen, right?!” No one talked. Kyoko, Celeste, Chihiro, Hina, Syo, they didn’t move. “R-right?”

“Puhuhu, it’s such a delight to see your faces, lost their feelings from Despair, so jealous…”

“Now, IIIIIIIIITTT’S VOTING TIME!!!”

“No! We won’t give into despair!” No one talked.

“If despair is punished, the academy dies with me! I control the fate of the academy with the push of a button!” Junko brandished a controller. “Do you really want to punish yourselves, along with Despair?”

“Chihiro? Chihiro please listen to me.”

 

“I want to live...I don’t want to live in shadow anymore…” Chihiro said. “I have to believe! To believe in me is to believe in others! I have to believe! Believe in Hope!”

  
“Hina! Hina we have to escape this, right?”

 

“Right now, I’m wondering...what would Sakura do?” she mused. “I made her a promise! I made her a promise to survive for her! I’m going to live for Sakura! I’m going to live for Hope!”

 

“Syo?”

 

“KYEEEEEHAHAHA!! I’ll do whichever is more interesting! School’s gross and so is this Despair-Crazed bitch-head!! I’m with Makoto on this one! I’m with hope!”

 

“Celeste? Celeste come on, we have to do this!”

 

“You know, I really think humans are stupid. The number of people I’ve swindled, and how easily they let two teenagers ruin the world, they really are a complete write-off a species! And how dare you make me CARE ABOUT THEM!!” Celeste shouted. “If humanity can’t save themselves, I’ll help save them! I’m on the side of Hope!”

 

“Kyoko? Kyoko are you okay?”

“Kyoko? Do it for us. You have to help us get out of here.”

 

“I never really knew Jin Kirigiri. I never really knew him, but I know one thing.” Kyoko smiled. “I know he wouldn’t want us to die here, or kill Makoto himself. We won’t die here, and we won’t let the world die. I will save this world with Hope.”

 

“What?” Junko said. "What are you doing?! You’re all supporting...Hope...?"

"Despair takes everything from people! The only thing that can save this world is hope!"

"Hope?! **HOPE?!** **_HOPE IS THAT DIRTY PIECE OF GUM YOU WIPE OFF YOUR SHOE! HOPE IS THAT GARBAGE FIRE OF A COUSIN YOU AVOID AT THE CHRISTMAS PARTY! HOPE IS SO INCREDIBLY FUCKING BORING!!! THE ONLY THING FUCKING HOPE HAS EVER DONE IS BREED DESPAIR! THAT'S THE ONLY THING HOPE HAS EVER DONE FOR PEOPLE! DESPAIR IS ALL THAT MATTERS! DESPAIR DESPAIR DESPAIR!!!!"_ **Junko screeched, slamming her hands down onto her armrests.

“Nothing you say will stop us. We vote to execute Despair.” Kyoko stated.

“But, that makes no sense?! How could I be wrong?!” Junko said. “This doesn’t THIS DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE! I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE SAYING! DESPAIR DESPAIR DESPAIR DESPAIR!!!”

Makoto Naegi’s hand voted to execute student number **16** , Junko Enoshima.

As the roulette spun, Junko realized something. The roulette wheel landed on Junko Enoshima, and she was laughing.

 

“You lost, Junko.”

“Me? That’s, That’s, THAT’S!” Junko grinned, her face a wicked smile. “Totally, AAAAMAZINGGGG!!!”

“Huh?” Makoto said as Junko practically squealed with delight.

“This, this is Despair! Raw, strong, beautiful DESPAIR!!” Junko grabbed her arms, cackling. “I ended the world for it, I killed my own sister! ALL FOR THIS DESPAIR! HAHAHA, WHAT A PAY-OFF!!!”

Junko dashed off her throne, grinning.

 

“Puhuhuhu...Puhuhuhuhu...So this, this is how the despair of dying feels...Ahhaha, IT’S SO WONDERFUL!”

“Even a tenth of this despair, even a hundred…” Junko smiled, laughing between her words. “I want the whole world to be dyed with this glorious DESPAIR!”

“Alright...I’ve prepared a vERY SPECIAL PUNISHMENT FOR **_JUNKO ENOSHIMA!! THE ULTIMATE DESPAIR!!!”_ **

**_“LET’S GIVE IT EVERYTHING WE’VE GOT NOW! ITTTTTTTT’S PUNISHMENT TIME!!!!”_ **

 

Junko Enoshima tossed a controller on the ground, before walking over to a door Makoto swore didn’t use to be there.

 

**JUNKO ENOSHIMA HAS BEEN VOTED GUILTY**

**TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!**

 

Junko Enoshima was standing in a classroom, waving her arm in the air back and forth, a wicked grin on her face. Then, a bear trap and a stage surrounded her. And now she was standing on a limousine, with a parade around her, Princess Buuko waved a wand overhead. A giant excavator hung over her, and a massive smashing machine built nearby. She knew what was coming, and she laughed.

 

 **THRILLS!** **  
** **KILLS!** **  
** **CHILLS!** **  
** **  
** **THE ULTIMATE** **  
** **PUNISHMENT**

 

She wasted no time, Junko danced and sung on a stage before a bear trap nearly killed her. Junko waved on top of a limousine, blood running down her body, as she was shot in the chest. Junko slumped on the ground, giggling. Princess Buuko fired a laser at Junko, and she was laughing. An excavator hit her over the head, over and over again, and she was laughing. And Junko Enoshima, clutching a Monokuma plushie, giggled to herself, waving on a chair as she slowly lined up with a compactor. And as quickly as this has started, Junko Enoshima was crushed to death, laughing with despair.

 

\----

 

And it was over. Makoto Naegi, Kyoko Kirigiri Celestia Ludenberg, Chihiro Fujisaki, Toko Fukawa, and Aoi Asahina stood at a large door that used to be an entrance hall. Makoto’s hand traveled to the button, smiling, he flipped over the screen, hovering over the button labeled “Master Control”.  
  
"Hey. I just wanted to let you guys know that, no matter what happens. I'll never leave any of you behind." Hina stated, a warm smiled planted on her face.  
  
Chihiro sniffled, her grin impossibly wide. "Y-yeah. No Ultimate Despair is ever going to stay in our way again."  
  
"The world needs people like us, I suppose." Celeste said. "Now, let's try our best to fix it."  
  
"This is so stupid, but, I'm glad I met all of you..." Toko drawled.  
  
"Makoto? Will you do the honors?" Kyoko smirked.  
  
And Makoto smiled.

They knew the world wasn’t happy right now. But they could do it. They could bring hope to this world.

When they reached the city, they would heal it.

When they reached the city, the would restore Despair with Hope.

When they reached the city, a new world would be birthed from the ashes.

Yeah.

When they reached the city.


End file.
